pete14

Does that mean you have sorted out insurance or are you taking the word of your travel agent?

They did last November. Drops you near the centre of Tromso.

As with any insurance, it seems like an expensive waste of money up until the day you need to make a claim. The cost of a medical evacuation or repatriation doesn’t bear thinking about but it is beyond the means of most people. Asking for proof of insurance as part of the checkin process would add delays and just imagine the complaints about resulting later check in times. P&O make it very clear that full insurance is required and trust that nobody is stupid enough to risk disobeying the requirement (I am not suggesting that anybody on here would take that risk). I know nothing about obtaining suitable insurance in USA but as of course Carnival group operate numerous cruises in USA waters, and worldwide, I cannot understand why their requirements are less than those of P&O as the OP suggests.

Thanks for your observation. We are on D deck which might be the ones you are talking about because the balcony is not overlooked according to the deck plan. Personally, I don’t see this as an issue although of course some might. Space and fresh air are more important to us.

Good news that we have the cabin we want for our cruise to Iceland in August 2026. Pre registering and booking direct with P&O has worked really well. 😊😊

The cruise to view the eclipse in Iceland in August 2026 which we had pre registered for is now confirmed with our cabin. The suite allocated to us was absolutely fine but I have changed it to one with a much bigger wrap-around aft balcony a deck lower on Arcadia. Happy days. 😊

Welcome along! I suspect we are not alone.

They are on P&O website. Who knows when the postie is going to arrive these days?

I agree that there are some new ports included in some cruises which is a good thing. Shame we can only book one of them. Our Iceland cruise has new ports and overnight in Reykjavik and Greenock for Glasgow on the way back. It also calls at Belfast and Cobh for Cork. All three UK ports are new to us which is great. So a combination of Iceland and UK cruise with the eclipse thrown in as a free attraction.

Thanks for that. Being August, it is unlikely we will see the Northern Lights but you never know. At least we saw them last year and I agree they were awesome and magical.

After a 10 minute wait earlier this morning, we have pre registered our ‘total eclipse’ cruise. Arcadia to Iceland which is scheduled to be in the total eclipse path. All we need now is some cloud dispersant on the afternoon of 12th August 2026 and everything will be fine.

Tomorrow I think (if P&O technology can cope).

Having the internet package, my son, being sensible, checked online to see the price before deciding to buy it. The identical watch online was nearly 50% more and that was the cheapest he could find it. So no, it appears that there was not a massive mark up, nor was it a ship’s special only available onboard. It was something he wanted but had it been overpriced, he would not have bought it. Neither he nor I are fools which you seem to be implying.

Of course the same opportunities exist, but only for those who do not pre purchase. Pre purchase discounts for packages encourage people to pre book and if they take advantage, they could easily end up with OBC that they can only spend by buying things they neither need nor want in the shops onboard. On a cruise last year, we pre booked drinks packages and internet at a discount and struggled to use approx £500 OBC because there was nothing we wanted or needed and speciality restaurants were fully booked. We ended up giving much of it to our son to put towards buying an expensive watch that he wanted which was already discounted in the jeweller onboard. Hopefully Moley’s prediction about using OBC prior to boarding comes to pass.

I must ask what you do with the white vinegar. Do you drink it, sprinkle it around the house or put a bowl of it on the floor to drown the little b***ers?

It is quite noticeable that now P&O is offering incentives to book drinks packages, internet access, excursions and speciality dining before you set foot onboard, the opportunities for using onboard credit are diminishing. You have £150 which shouldn’t be too great a problem but some cruises offer much more with shareholder OBC to be added. We have a booking for 2026 - a 14 night cruise with total OBC of over £1000. We will probably use it to book drinks and internet packages onboard but will lose out on any pre booking discounts. Limited availability means that we will book speciality dining and any excursions in advance though.

Paul McCartney and the fogs chorus?

Is the folk song ‘One misty moisty morning’ acceptable?

After the strong wind, heavy rain and sea causing flooding of a couple of days ago, today has dawned bright, warm and fairly calm. Hopefully it will remain the same later as we hope to be able to sit outside with a drink or two with friends.

What about the national anthem ‘long to rain over us’?

Day has dawned at our idyllic paradise in North Wales. Not only has the world turned upside down (probably thanks to the Americans messing around with the sun and moon yesterday), but at 3:10 this morning the phone rang with a warning that flooding is expected today at high tide in a few hours. Shouldn’t be a problem for us because we are in a raised position but, mentioning no names, those on the flat may need wellies. Rain has been hammering down for hours (not just April showers) and the wind is baring its teeth, as is the sea. The joys of a British summer. Oh, and it is coming up to the time when Charlie 🐶☔️ expects his morning walk although he is trying hard to pretend he is still asleep at the moment. Have a great day wherever you are.

It’s a good job your hubby is 6ft 13in+

Especially if it is raining. ☔️

Has it changed a lot over the last few years? I am waiting to see whether there will be any cruises to view the solar eclipse in summer 2026. Cunard seem to have three although they may not all witness the total eclipse, just partial.

What a shame that Magdalena fjord is now off limits but perfectly understandable I suppose. We went there on our first cruise in 2005 on Artemis.