Tony1878

Hi Brick1, you can usually grab a lounger on the promenade decks as well on sea days (make sure you get the sunny side)

Loungers are usually plentiful on days when in port, don't forget the ship is your holiday as well, make use of the facilities, if you don't fancy getting off somewhere, enjoy yourself on the ship. (Bars / Pools / hot tubs etc / have a leisurely lunch or a couple of beers in the sun)

Shuttle bus to town and have a wander around the shops, it's a nice little place.

5 hours ago, Brummijam said:

According to Marella they are ok to take onboard.🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Copied from Marellas website……..

 

DO I NEED TO BRING A HAIRDRYER?

No – we’ve got you covered there, too, with every cabin including a hairdryer. You may want to bring a small travel iron with you though, as irons aren’t provided.

You are correct, the rules have changed, we had one in September on Discovery with no issues.

I make sure i have a small extension lead with at least 4 sockets to plug into, if you both have a phone and a kindle or two it's necessary.

Travel Iron?

Bottle of something you like in your room for pre dinner / after dinner drinks? (ask steward for ice)

Take a picture on your phone of what's on in the cruise news (daily info sheet left in your room), the entertainment moves from venue to venue, if you know what's going on and what time, you won't miss anything.

22 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Arvia officially joins the P&O fleet tomorrow at a handover ceremony in Germany.

 

She will then sail into Southampton on Sunday morning, 18 December. She is expected to have the usual fireboat escort up Southampton water. Times are approximately:

 

Portsmouth: 10:40am
Gosport/Ryde: 10:50am
Lee on Solent: 11am
Cowes: 11:10am
Calshot: 11:30am
Warsash: 11:35am
Hythe: 11:50am
Ocean Cruise Terminal: 12:00 noon

 

She aims to be berthed by 12:30pm, and will berth with her portside alongside (nose in).

 

She will then stay in Southampton until she departs on her maiden cruise at 6pm on Saturday 23 December.

Where no doubt she will be crawling with Vloggers and the like all fighting to show us what we are missing.

Love it when the Vloggers stay out of the picture and keep quiet.

On 12/9/2022 at 10:38 AM, Fionboard said:

Possibly, but also maybe the fact that they are practically giving Iona cruises away which may affect the demographic also. Enough said! It is like Marmite. Just need to accept that and pick the ship you prefer. On Iona at present there are many elderly folk and on Arcadia twice this year it has been a very mixed age range. 

You will have to let me know where they are giving Iona cruises away?

Mine cost me an arm and a leg.

my wife is Gluten intolerant and has to look out for Gluten Free options.

Marella are really good once you make them aware of any requirements.

They will provide you with the following day's menu, so that you can choose your meal in advance, they can "adjust" some meals to ensure they are without gluten and prepared correctly,

I know your wife has a more serious condition and i'm sure you will receive a better answer from someone with experience of the same problems.

As one of the previous posters has said, it's not our problem regarding staff shortages.

Cruise lines are not offering discounts to us due to delays or shortages etc.

I am convinced this is a cost cutting exercise throughout the industry and nothing to do with staff shortages, they may have to train new staff, but there are enough people out there to fill the requirement.

We need to stop taking the British attitude to things and start complaining (to the companies, not staff)

Also, has to be a table for two for us, the day we returned home from our cruise in September, I came down with Covid, I haven't a clue where i caught it, but we shared a table a couple of nights before and who knows if someone passed it on, or caught it from me?

3 hours ago, Neecy1 said:

Yes we've got tickets for the 10pm show. Cant wait

Hi Neecy1,

How did you get tickets?

Was it a lottery by cabin, or do you queue up, first come first served?

Or is a paid show?

thanks

Thanks for all your feedback,

Interesting that I appear to be late booking for next year.

I've never booked a cruise earlier than approx 6 months from sailing.

Something that I will definitely look at as I am now in the position to travel on .any dates

Hi all, first time poster on P&O, forgive me if this question has been asked 100's of times already.

Probably asking how long a piece of string is, but I would welcome some feedback please.

We have cruised a few times with various companies, but never with P&O.

We are looking at a couple of cruises from the UK as we don't want to go through the airport melee again until they sort themselves out, we have just returned to Manchester airport and waited 3 hours for our luggage, tested positive on day 2 on our return as well, so UK start and finish it is.

We have identified a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords in June 2023, is it better to book early or later in your opinion?

Ship is IONA and the current price didn't scare me off, but I know I would be spitting feathers if it dropped a couple of hundred pounds later on.

We plan to use the cruise to see if we like the ship etc and will probably do a med cruise September.

Thanks for any feedback.

Lee, regarding dress code, a pair of smart jeans / chinos and a polo shirt or short sleeved shirt is perfect if you are eating in the main dining room or "pay" restaurants.

Lots of people get dressed up on dress to impress night, most of us don't get the chance to give James Bond a run for his money too often, so it's a good chance to get scrubbed up, but it's not compulsory. Whenever you see cruises on TV it looks like everyone goes to dinner in a Tux, well they don't.

It's your holiday, wear what you feel comfortable in when you go out at home and you will fit right in.

The only thing people tend to frown on is if somebody turns up at dinner in shorts and vest looking like they have just got out of the pool.

Enjoy and start saving for the next one.

I'm having the same issues as the original poster and it won't verify my booking reference.

Can I only request testing kits 2 weeks out from our cruise? I haven't got a clue what's going on these days.

We only sail 06/09/22, but for some reason, I had a reminder set to order test kits yesterday.

First ever cruise was on Dream.

My wife and I were laughing the other day about it, we sailed from Palma and had a sea day the following day, when we woke up on the Monday morning, the ship was still and quiet and like 2 schoolkids we pulled back the curtains, kneeling on the bed bouncing up and down because we were in Trapani. (no balcony for us, outside plus)

We were naive and didn't have a clue about cruising, but it changed the way we wanted to spend our holidays.

I look back with fondness at the spur of the moment sing along with the waiters, someone just randomly producing a guitar and the next thing they have a group, everyone had a smile.

What was the thing with all the breads made into different shapes and fruit carved into faces and flowers?

Baked Alaska night and waiving your napkins in appreciation of the crew.

I know things have to change, but it seemed more relaxed back then, but maybe I'm just a moaning old fogey,

Its still the best way to spend your holiday money and I can't wait until September for the next adventure.

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

You have calmed my doubts.

Looking to get my brother and his partner join us on their first cruise to celebrate one of her "special" Birthdays.

It would be early October, can you give me an idea of what we might expect weather wise and sea state?

I understand it will be different every year, but generally is it still warm, is the Med still fairly tranquil?

I thought Western Med might be a good introductory area for their first cruise.

On 6/20/2022 at 1:46 PM, Flickjax said:

If they don't start being more sensible it will start to cost Marella in numbers. I also agree there telephone customer service has a lot of issues, consistency being one of them.

Unfortunately, it's not all down to TUI, it's the countries in Europe that are stipulating the 270 day rule.

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

OMG, what countries? my booster was on Dec 1 2021 and 270 days from that is 28 August so i can't go on my September cruise or my November one or the one in July next year - crazy

As I understand it - and I stand to be corrected, the 270 day rule doesn't apply against your booster jab.

It's 270 days after your second jab, but only comes into play if you have not had a booster jab.

Hope this makes sense.

20 hours ago, tring said:

 

No one can really answer most of those questions, even Fred I suspect, though I would suggest it is worth ringing the office to ask, though if told the cruise will be going ahead, it of course just means that it is not cancelled or changed as yet.  Really a case of wait and see, though if you leave booking until nearer the time, things may be clearer.  Regards a table for two, that can never be confirmed, though you could probably request one.  As late sitting (8.30pm) is less popular than first sitting (6.15pm), you may have more chance of a table for two if you choose that, though as I say no guarantee at all.  Booking a saver fare would not let you even request a table size, though with an extra payment you would be able to request a sitting time, if your choice is available of course.  There is a self service restaurant open every night as an alternative.  

 

Excursions are not published until three or four weeks before the cruise, so as no Med cruises are planned in the very near future, again there is no indication of possible excursions, though I would expect there to be a mix of those for active people along with some for the less mobile.  Whether you would be allowed ashore independently remains to be seen, but must admit I would not be hopeful at this stage, given UK cruises are still needing excursions.

 

Cancellation details are best discussed with Fred, though if there are just a couple of port changes, you would not be likely to get a refund on any cruise, though of course if cancelled altogether you should get a refund and they have been relatively quick with those compared to many other cruise lines.  In between that, Fred along with other cruise lines, seems to prefer to let you change a cruise, rather than have a refund, so you may have to be fairly assertive to get the option of a refund.

 

Sunbeds have been set up in twos with a small space and table in between the twos for the cruises which have sailed so far.  If there are no sunbeds to the rear of deck eight, or around the pool in the centre of deck eight (quite possible on a good day unless you are up early), then there is a large space above the observation lounge (deck 10) where you would likely find beds, but that area is only accessible via outside stairs - there is no lift access.

 

Would be great to be able to answer all your questions, but sadly it is something everyone is wondering about at present. 

Many thanks for taking the time to reply - i think i may leave cruising for 12 months and let things settle down hopefully, it's too expensive a hobby to have so many restrictions, i fully understand the reasons however. 

Hi All,

Thanks in advance for any replies.

We have cruised a number of times with other lines, but never with Fred Olsen, I have spotted a cruise that interests me as it sails from Liverpool which is local to me, no queues at the airport or sitting close to 300 other passengers certainly appeals at this time.

• I'm interested in the Discovering Spain and Balearics cruise sailing on 11/09/21 - is this likely to sail, or have Fred been cancelling a lot of Itineraries?
• Are they ok with giving refunds if it cancels?  
• They are saying that you will only be able to disembark at the ports as part of a larger group - does anyone have any idea what type of excursions they are likely to offer? We are both a bit slow walking due to dodgy knees etc.
• Not that we are unsociable, but we like to have dinner as a 2 and catch up with each other as we don't get the opportunity the rest of the year, we have also shared some uncomfortable tables on previous cruises that i would like to avoid.
• In light of the current situation, are there sufficient sunbeds available to relax outside? are they still set up next to each other, or are they spaced out.

I sound like I don't want to talk to anyone don't I? hope you understand why we ask these questions and thanks for your help.

Renewed mine recently and to be fair to them, i had my new passport 2 - 3 weeks after my application.

I don't know if i was lucky or this is the norm.

I did receive a couple of texts saying there may be delays, but both of us received our new passports no later than 3 weeks.

I took a little trip to Scotland as my holiday for this year.

Monday to Friday dodging the rain :)

We really enjoyed it to be fair, we saw places that we wouldn't normally visit as we tend to chase the sunshine.

I've missed my holidays so much this year I have even been looking at buying a second hand Caravan!!

Jim / Wee County Man, many thanks, appreciate your comments.

I'm prepared to walk away from my deposit (£500), just not sure if i had one of the lower deposit offers and they will sting me for extra cash, I paid £250 when i booked and £250 in April.

I could kick myself on the holiday insurance, i am covered seperately from my wife, i took out a policy for her last year detailing all the treatments etc, it expired at the end of March and as we didn't think that we would be going anywhere, at least until the end of the year,  i didn't renew the policy.

She was covered at the time of booking though.

Normally i would just give them a call and have a chat, see what options are open........................ yeah right :)

thanks all

Can I ask advice from everyone please?

We are booked on a Christmas cruise in the Caribbean, I know it's months away but my wife had some cancer treatment last year and is still classed as vulnerable, she is quite rightly very nervous about flying or sailing until we find a vaccine or some sort of guarantee of safety.

I have paid 2 x instalments towards the cruise, with the final payment due in September.

If i cancel, would TUI allow me to transfer the money already paid on to a holiday in 2021?

I am not sure if we had a special low cost deposit or not, so i'm not sure if i will get hit for the extra on my deposit as well.

I really don't want to hand over £3K to TUI in September and then be wishing and hoping that the cruise is cancelled.

I'm prepared to walk away from my deposit, but wondered if transferring to a holiday later on was an option or not.

Thanks for your comments.

We have a Christmas cruise booked on Explorer 2 in the Caribbean later this year.

I had to pay the 2nd instalment on my deposit a couple of weeks ago to ensure we didn't lose the booking.

God knows what to do if things don't change by the final payment due in September, i'm not sure i will feel comfortable handing over £3000 + to TUI on the promise of a credit note.