dgs1956

We have decided, for the first time, not to book seats. Its a ridiculous price and the likelihood is that at worst we'll be siting across the passageway from each other. Theoretically it means more space and its easier to move around so we'll suck it and see. If I were sitting in Premier seats I would definitely book seats because of the TUI seat configuration.

Seats numbers are not allocated until you get to the airport.

3 hours ago, gam888 said:

Thank you all for replying my post. I will be checking out these sequence dance instructions on Youtube!

Sadly, we're on YouTube doing these Sequence Dances on board Azura. When our daughter saw them she said she thought we enjoyed dancing. We really did look miserable. LOL. I'd like to think we've progressed a bit since then.

We normally don't use the lifts but on one occasion we witnessed a couple who got in the floor after us. At the next floor a single gentleman got in and pressed the button to go up one floor. The woman turned to the man and said " You should walk up the stairs and you'd maybe loose some of that!" At that point she poked him in the stomach fairly firmly. We stood stunned and the man got out without replying. Not that it matters but the man wasn't particularly overweight. As the doors shut I let rip. I asked her why she thought it was acceptable to speak to someone like that. She replied, "He should get up in the morning like I do and go for a swim and get some of his beef off". I told her that she was completely out of order and as far as she knew the man might have a medical condition but to use the lift was his choice. She simply told me, "F*** Off". Nice !!!

28 minutes ago, Lottie A said:

How's this for a "rude passenger"? 

 

I recently did a Fred Olsen cruise on Balmoral. On the first night I joined my dining table to find a man about 45 ish and an elderly man seated there. Two much older ladies joined us later. I greeted them and told them my name and asked the usual ice breaker question of "have you been on Balmoral before"? Yes I have replied the 45 ish man. I find it good hunting ground to hook up with single, lonely, sad 50 year old women! At first I thought he was joking.... so I replied that I was neither single, lonely, sad or indeed 50!

 

He then kept asking me to go for a drink with him and constantly asked me for my cabin number throughout the meal, despite me saying that there was no way I was giving a complete stranger my cabin number. Eventually he said "well if you won't tell me then I can always follow you back to it tonight and then I will know". I regarded this as completely out of order and it felt like almost stalking me, so I left the table and went and reported him to Guest Relations. They sent a Security Officer to warn him that his behaviour was objectionable and if he repeated it to any other ladies he would be put off the ship. 

 

I am a confident and well travelled GP and fully able to deal with such an unpleasant character but I did think about how upset and worried less confident ladies who were cruising alone would feel if they had been subjected to his rude behaviour. Needless to say I changed dinner tables and met a fantastic group of people on the second table. One lovely man, ex services, and looked to be very fit, who was travelling with his wife and sister, offered to go and "sort him out" for me! 😄 

 

I'm sure nothing like that will happen on my Aurora cruise tomorrow! 

 

That is a despicable way for someone to behave.

1 hour ago, miniyorkie said:

Hi agree with all the replies. May be worth noting that the dance instructors, who host the ballroom dancing, are usually more than happy to partner people to help and I am sure that the OP's would  then easily learn a few basic sequence dances in order to join in. Mayfair Quickstep is usually very popular  and enjoyable with newbies and the experienced sequence dancers assist during the dance.

Definitely. I would add the Sally Ann ChaCha and Rumba One as well. Simple dances that are very easy to learn.

7 hours ago, gam888 said:

Hi Folks, we have sailed on various cruise lines but have never sailed with P & O before. We are considering a 14 day cruise in February to the Caribbean. We enjoy ballroom dancing and have seen the Crystal Room on You Tube. Could you please tell us if there is ballroom dancing every night on the ship . We are from Canada and are not familiar with the Sequence Dance that the British folks enjoy, although we have seen it while we sailed on Cunard a few times. The ballroom dancing in the Crystal Room, is it mainly Sequence Dances or it's just a small part of it? We enjoy doing ballroom dancing to strict tempo Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Cha Cha and Rumba..etc. Apart from the ballroom dancing, is there another lounge that has a live band or a DJ that play other club music, such as Salsa, Bachata..etc? How could you compare the Britannia to Cunard? (We are familiar with Cunard).

Please share any other information regarding entertainment, food, demographic, age group etc so we know what to expect. Thank you in advance.

 

Generally there is dancing every evening in the Crystal Room. The dancing is normally made up of 50% Ballroom and 50% Sequence. You will get differing views on this but that is pretty much the case. There is an occasional Salsa and we do dance Bachata but have never seen it done on a cruise. You can request anything though. Sequence is very easy to learn and although we certainly don't love it, we learned some dances rather than sitting and watching. I'm sure someone will show you if you ask them. I haven't been on Cunard but I understand the dancing is much the same but I would guess P&O is less formal. The Crystal Room sometimes has a live band but there is also another lounge where more modern music is played.

The Caribbean cruisers tend to be a little younger than the normal demographic on P&O, probably because of the destination and being a fly cruise. 

7 hours ago, kenhem said:

We're currently on Arcadia and, whilst norovirus hasn't been mentioned by the captain, he has stated there are reported gastro problems with some passengers. So they have instigated removing anything surplus on tables such as pots and menus and strict handwashing when entering the buffet. Also handrail cleaning is much in evidence and cleaning of chairs in the MDR when guests have finished. I'm wondering if it's tied to it's a 28 night cruise? No scientific reasoning but just a question.

These "precautions" should be a matter of course as far as I'm concerned.

On 11/11/2019 at 8:12 PM, Suebiker said:

Thank you - Is that Dec 2019 or Dec 2020 or Dec 2021  ? 

Sorry for the delay. 7 December 2019. 

10 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

It does happen,  not very often but it happens. Try watching the reception staff in particular who are the most likely to be sour faced, usually when you are right and they are wrong eg wrongly charged bar bill etc.

Possibly but I have never experienced it and certainly not over a bit of cake.

6 hours ago, Lottie A said:

I love those little fruit tarts in the Costa coffee shop. I was on Azura a couple of years ago and was told I couldn't have one until 11 am. It was then 10:50 am and there was a tray full of them in the display cabinet! I said how ridiculous that was and if they were out on display then they should be available to eat.  I got nowhere and they just said I could have a muffin but not the fruit tart, so I sat down and waited until 11 am to order my coffee! The gave me the fruit tart with a scowl! I'm on Aurora very soon and will be waiting for my coffee until 11 am this time! 😄

I'm very surprised at that. In my experience there is no way that a member of staff would scowl at anyone. 

5 hours ago, Stokie33 said:

I know from being on here that it will be 50/50 if we get off the ship but due to time off work my options are limited. It's either brugge the 12th - 14th April which is Easter plus on Britannia which when we went in Sept was a nightmare due to how people behaved or this one to Guernsey which is somewhere we haven't been. I'm thinking if we go into it thinking it's 2 nights on a ship and if we manage to get off it's a bonus 

Bruges is a better visit in my opinion. If you don't mind me asking, what was the problem with behaviour on Britannia?

Cruise to nowhere.

We go on 7 December and our cabin is showing OK.

7 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

It is not the instruction now as apparently you don’t need your life jackets any more. I’m sorry that you have taken such exception to my comment about it being common courtesy to turn up on time and not to keep others waiting, but I stand by my comment. We shall just have to agree to disagree. 

I do take offence to your comment as I certainly don't lack common courtesy and I followed the instructions given at the time. I don't agree to disagree but I don't intend to comment further. Life's too short.

3 minutes ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:

I always aim to be at my muster station at the advertised time.  I thought the instruction given were to return to your cabin and collect your life jacket when you hear the signal. That would make me about five minutes late. 

That is the instruction and it is certainly not lacking in "common courtesy" to follow that instruction. 

24 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I understand the point you are making, but I don’t believe that the logic holds when it’s a planned muster at an advertised time as most passengers are already at their muster station before the alarm sounds. For staff to be able to assess the true behaviours (and timings) in an emergency the muster would have to be completely unannounced and passengers would need to return to their cabins to collect life jackets, head coverings etc. In reality, what we have on embarkation day isn’t a muster drill at all. It’s a passenger safety briefing, thinly disguised as a muster drill in order that passengers are familiar with where there muster station is.

Indeed, but your point that passengers that didn't arrive before the time and waited until they followed the announcements lacked "common courtesy" and I wanted to point out that wasn't the case.

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

In a real life emergency then yes, but when it is a planned passenger muster drill at a set time, which has been advertised in advance and confirmed by way of several announcements, then I personally feel that it is a common courtesy to other passengers and crew to be at the relevant muster station no later than the publicised time so that many hundreds of other people aren’t kept waiting for you. But that might just be me. 

So they don't advertise real life emergencies in advance then? I am still of the view that the announcement is made and then you are to proceed to the muster point. If not then why would there be staff stationed along the route? It is not a "drill" if everyone turns up long before the event, it would just be an explanation of a procedure. Surely the idea of it is to simulate an emergency.

Generally, the muster drill is taken in simple instructions:

1. An announcement is normally made to passengers, informing them that a mandatory muster drill will begin shortly.
2. Then, another announcement is made, informing crew and passengers, that the "general emergency alarm" is about to be sounded for exercise purposes only.
3. After the alarm has been sounded, passengers are told to then make their way to their muster station.
4. Upon reaching their muster station, passengers are informed of the use of life jackets, lifeboats, etc.
5. A final signal is made, informing that the muster drill is concluded.

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, I think that is the cause of the delays that I referred to in my previous post. If we have been told in several announcements and in Horizon that the muster is at, say, 4.15pm, then we make sure that we are in our muster venue by 4.15pm. We don’t wait for the alarm to sound before we start to make our way there. Perhaps that also explains why passengers stroll in to shows up to ten minutes after they start as well 😉

Unless I'm mistaken, is it not that you are supposed to wait until you are called to make your way to the Muster Station so its a bit more realistic? I can understand anyone with walking difficulties heading off early.

The muster drill is a pain but has to be done. We always wait until we are called to go to the muster station and when we get there we find its full. We're not slow on our feet so the only explanation is that the majority of people have arrived well before the call goes out.

13 minutes ago, Rysland said:

Hi need help on formal night s is it formal dress for all of the ship or can you do smart dress

Why not read the rest of the comments on this thread?

24 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Absolutely not! 

 

Just an option for smart casual, with 'proper' shoes and trousers - even a requirement for a jacket wouldn't be a problem.  Just the sort of attire you'd encounter in decent restaurants and hotels across the UK.

You don't think that before long the moans would be for flip flops and shorts and worse?

My daughter has just been on an RCI Caribbean cruise. She says that there were loads of people in the MDR with shorts and flip flops. Is that what the ones that are against Formal Nights want P&O to allow?

Just now, Cathygh said:

Love that comment!🤣

He is 30, and its come s a surprise to me that he even owns one suit, let alone 3. 

Exactly. Don't discourage him.

18 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Hi

So sorry about posting yet another dress code question but it's for my son who will be joining us for his first cruise soon. He has a light grey suit , a dark green suit and red one. I guess the red one won't be suitable for formal night but would the others be ok? 

TIA Cathy

All of them. Why not? He's obviously a younger person with a bit style.

12 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Indeed. And it's trying to cling on to past days of the British Empire and Britain as some kind of world power (both of which were finished off by two major wars) that's tearing the country apart and making us the laughing stock of the world right now.

 

Woolworths didn't change. Neither did Comet. Likewise Thomas Cook. That's what happens if you cling on to the past. 

Oh! No! I can feel myself agreeing with you as well.