themanwithahat

I'm impressed you can last that long ....

I see it as an advantage. Our children just relax and enjoy themselves rather than worry about facebook. You can pick up and send emails in port.

You'll love it, I think :)

It might be worth talking to the TA. Balconies are nice to have. Especially if you are going somewhere warm.

Thanks, I missed that :-)

Can I ask, do you know if Oriana does the 'fixed' menu like Azura and Ventura do, where there are a selection of dishes - steak, chicken, egg mayo etc. that are on the menu every day ?

Just joined cruise critic so excuse any mistakes.

Booked my first cruise on Britannia in March when they were advertising cabin upgrades and bubbly. Led to believe we would get a balcony for same price as inside. Been given inside cabin midship deck C. Travel agent says we have been upgraded. I don't understand. Can any of you cruise experts help me. Is this a good place to be on the ship? I feel we've been misled. Any advice? I have emailed p&o 3 wks ago but not got a response.

I'm still looking fwd to cruise. Thanks. :)

Sounds like your TA/Booker has misled you tbh.

Many sites - cruisecritic included - have offers that lines do at various times, where you might be able to book a balcony for the price of an inside (say). To shift cruises they offer free upgrades, free drinks, free OBC, free parking, price cuts, all those sorts of things.

However, when you book you book what you book (err...) e.g. you book a cabin at a particular grade (if you are on select, you book a particular cabin), so your invoice/receipt should say "Saver fare minimum grade LA outside" or something like that.

Subsequently (if you allow it) P&O may upgrade you to allow you to have a balcony - we were once upgraded from a balcony to a deluxe balcony - but there is no guarantee of that. On a saver fare I would think it would be less likely than on a select fare. Nobody really knows how it is done. Other than select fare payers getting first chance (which is fair enough) it may well be random. It was only our 2nd cruise so it's not like we're big P&O users.

You can be upgraded late in the day ; we didn't realise we'd been upgraded until we were given the 'wrong' cabin :)

I would check your receipt/invoice that you should have from the booking, that should say what you actually booked, and check the Cruise Personaliser which will tell you if you are still in the inside cabin.

Is it ? Does it not do hot foods ?

TBF, this is lessons for beginners or very inexperienced almost entirely. Certainly the ones I've seen have been rookies.

We shall be boarding Ventura soon on a four night mini cruise to Belgium and Guernsey. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were about getting the most out of a mini cruise.

 

Are there certain aspects of a cruise that you must do despite limited time?

Or would you be more inclined to relax on board and recharge your batteries? What do you think is missing (apart from days obviously!) with shorter cruises.

 

We haven't sailed Ventura before and will be sailing with our children who are 13 and 10. I would welcome general comments about mini cruises or more specific information about Ventura. :)

We did this cruise a couple of years ago - same ship. Our first.

TBH having done more since it's not actually any different to a longer cruise, except .. it's shorter :) .. but what you do or don't do is really up to your own personal preferences. No hen party issues or similar as happens on some shorter cruises.

What's missing ... compared to 7 days, basically nothing. Some things you need to book - the Spa for example - you might need to be quicker off the mark as there's the same number of cruisers but less time.

Never used the childrens facilities (ours are older) but have been on Ventura twice and Azura once, all in school holidays, and seen very few children about in the day time, which corresponds with the views of other parents that they keep them entertained very effectively. Had a cricket net on the top deck and a dozen teenagers appeared for it, they were the only ones we saw outside dinner and the shows pretty much.

Ventura itself I think is terrific.

Bruges is lovely but you have to get there (the coach takes you to the station OTOMH), Guernsey is a tender, and we just pottered around on foot. Great cruise, they'll love it.

Also there may be lessons on board, these weren't in the dance floor which is at the bottom of the atrium but were in one of the bar/show areas. Very popular too.

Some things aren't free on Room Service (the Burgers are £3 ?) but most things are.

You can carry on what you like. My son likes a Coke now and again so we take a shedload on and put it in the fridge. P&O reserve the right to stop you but I think that's so they can filter out potential drunk troublemakers, rather than like some lines which are desperate for you to spend $$$ on their bars.

Tea & Coffee is available. From memory there is not a huge choice of Coffee, it is basic Nescafe type stuff (more choice of teas) so if you like a particular brand you can take some. Also, there is no Hot Chocolate if that is your thing.

Does anyone have any recommendations about the best place to have cabins on Oriana - standard Outdoor/Windows ?

TIA

Hello everyone. I am an American and this is my first time on P&O. I have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and MSC. With that said, I have a few questions as the website isn't very forthcoming and I have to make a long distance call every time I have a question (no travel agent). In any event - 1) on a four night cruise is there a formal night and is it usually the second night? 2) if I see the prices are lower than when I booked, can I upgrade my room? 3) Is tipping deducted from my credit card at the end? I see there is a drink package you can pre-order, how about when you board? What is the entertainment like?

 

Anyone with some answers would be most appreciated.

1) Probably one night, probably a sea day.

2) No, prices vary, they do for the others as well.

3) I think it is credited every day (some P&O boats have a live total on an interactive TV)

4) Unless you drink an awful lot it's not really necessary. P&O charge UK pub prices, and you can bring what you like on board if you like sitting on a balcony with a drink (you just can't take them into the restaurants, or you can but they charge corkage)

5) The entertainment is very British - most of your shipmates will be British.

Thank you everyone. It sounds like there are no real problems as long as you are sensible and plan a little for peak times.

Barnaby ; the Cabins don't look too different to me, though obviously I don't know. I got the impression the food was different - more "American", larger portions, different rather than worse. From what I read it would seem to be okay at worst :)

It'd be quite interesting if he gave a talk on Life on Mars ..

Hi. We are actively considering RCI for a cruise/stay in Florida in the next year. I've only been on P&O and Cunard but I suspect we would like RCI. We like Americana and reading reviews, between the lines as ever, it sounds like a good fit for us.

My only concerns are about the sheer size of the ships. We went past one (Independence ??) in Soton a while back and it made the Fred Olsen boat berthed nearby look like a toy boat :)

When on P&O we haven't really noticed the 3000 passengers on the boat, it doesn't seem crowded (perhaps when getting on and off, and maybe in the theatres ?). Is this still the case with 5000 passengers ? Is it possible to get things like seats and sunbeds ?

The other thing is related. RCI seem to have lots of activities that aren't on P&O boats - rock climbing, the floating thing, the surfing thing, dodgems, the over the sea ball thing (sorry I can't remember the proper names). I wonder if with 5000 people on board you can really use these facilities ; are there long queues, or wait lists you have to sign up for really early to get any chance of using them.

Thanks for any comments anyone may have.

I discovered this when I went from laptop to the nexus. I thought how do I transfer from my camera. So onto Google I went, and found quite a few web pages where people were complaining that you had to have this particular app to import the pix. Short and curlies sort of thing.

My next quest maybe to see if I can download a film onto a memory stick, plug memory stick into nexus, using the aforesaid cable, and using the app to view it.

Nothing like a challenge to somebody not particularly tech minded like me.

The Nexuss (Nexii ?) don't have a card slot though I think you can get plug in ones.

Most modern cameras are USB memory devices in their own right - if you plug them into a computer they can be accessed as if they were a flash drive.

SD cards are cheap so you could just change cards daily. You might still have a faulty card though.

 

Say a 14 day cruise at a card a day costing £4 = £56

 

Yuo can buy devices that allow you to backup a SD card without a computer but they are expensive.

You could use a cheap Android tablet (you can get them for £30 or so) that could do this.

I have booked an inside cabin on Brittannia and already have my cabin number from booking. I wondered if anyone has ever had an upgrade once they have an allocated cabin?

Yes. Actually I suspect they only upgrade select fares anyway, or at least they are prioritised over savers, that would be reasonable.

It happened to us. We didn't realise until we were on board which caused a minor delay because our cases were tagged with the old cabin. It was just "done", we didn't get any letter advising us of it particularly.

I have no idea why though ; it was our second cruise and the first one was a short 4 dayer so it's not like we are regular customers (yet !)

It may be completely random.

Hi Widenrath

I would recommend Alternative a Cruise Parking((ACP), I found them to be well priced very friendly and efficient.

Yep, another vote for ACP.

It's very well run and much more relaxing. If you are coming from London you miss the M271 turning and all the traffic in Southampton and wander down a very quiet A road. The drivers do all the work and they know short cuts through the docks if there are traffic jams, things like that.

The delays are absolutely minimal both picking up and dropping off.

Thanks to everyone who replied.

If you want peace and quiet and NO KIDS then why don't you try and book an ADULT only cruise? They sail to some nice interesting places too. I work in a special needs school and can only book a holiday when all the kids are off I went on Azura last year I never really noticed the kids they have loads to do in the clubs etc. was a bit hectic around pools kids jumping in and having fun so we just used the ADULTS only pool at the front of the ship it was quiet for sunbathing there too.

Indeed. The people who are worried about "too many children" have not actually cruised before, and another not for 25 years, and another only on Fred Olsen. I know what they mean, you sometimes see hordes of uncontrolled children in some holiday places.

I've been on Azura once and Ventura twice, all in the school holidays (can't go in term time as missus is at college) and hardly seen any at all.

We have narrowed it down to three cruises (it's a group thing) one of which is Oriana X612, but I am trying to persuade them not to assume that N618/A618 (both of which are in early July) are not going to have floods of children, because I don't think they will have and to pick the cruise they like the most, not just the one which won't have any children.

For a variety of reasons we are quite limited in when we can go and people want to go somewhere warm (these three are Canaries/Med cruises).

I would also add that the children I have seen have been impeccably behaved !

I have never done a 2 nights but we did try a 3 nights 3 years ago on Ventura to give a 4 year old boy a little treat and there was no problem and we will be doing 3 nights again at the end of May on Azura to give his 4 year old sister a treat so we are hoping that it will be the same again.

Our first cruise was a four nighter and it wasn't noticeably different to any subsequent ones. I think it's the really short ones that are the problem. I suspect (cynic mode) that for the cost of a four nighter they clue they can get a week in a cheap AI in Spain or something for the same money.

Too a point it's harmless fun but there must be at least 10 hen parties on. As for the bar bills being high, I doubt it as they seem to have permanent litre bottles of vodka in there hands, and as for the running up and down the corridors at 3.30am! Just thought p and o were better than that. Definitely a third and final p and o cruise. 'For people who don't do cruises!'

Sounds tough. I think they do drink a lot though ; Fred Olsen normally charges £10 pppn for AI , for the short cruises its £39 pppn....

Allowing a couple of days to recover is eminently sensible ; you could have a day just chilling and a day to get from London to Southampton.

Never been on Adonia but on other P&O cruises myself and my 18 year old son just wore a jacket and trousers, I wore a bow tie and fluffy shirt, he just wore a shirt and normal tie, no-one has ever batted an eyelid. (I have bought a DJ now ....)

I think as long as you look smart (which you obviously will do) nobody really minds.

http://www.studio2.org.uk/Horizon.pdf is my scan of seven days of Horizon on a Genoa->Venice cruise on Ventura ; Azura and Ventura are almost identical. Don't recall seeing short tennis but then wasn't really looking for it :)

Having been in both a standard balcony cabin and a deluxe I would agree with the deluxe if you are going to spend any time in there other than sleeping. It's doable, but it would be a bit cramped. The deluxe gives you a whole other seating area. This is what we are doing on N527 ; we have a deluxe balcony and an inside opposite for our older children. The idea is they sleep in there (unless they want a bit of peace and quiet for some reason) and we all mix in the larger cabin.

Others will give better answers than this - I have never been on RCI, but you may find Ventura a bit quiet if you really like the RCI style. It does have activities, but it is not like the dodgems/climbing/surfing style of RCI. I think the "crowd" are older, a little, and it may well reflect that. Food and Entertainment I think are excellent but are very "British" and portions may be smaller compared to American ships ?

With respect to activities and menus, I saved everything from a 7 night Ventura Fly/Cruise round the Med (the repeatedly run Genoa -> Venice one) http://www.studio2.org.uk/Horizon.pdf and http://www.studio2.org.uk/Menus.pdf - Horizon is the "daily magazine" and menus .pdfis the evening menus. The former will tell you exactly what happens on a P&O Cruise.

I personally never have been bored (and we like the US style, we visit Orlando & DLP fairly regularly) but if you want 24/7 high intensity you might find it a bit quiet ?

People do say the kids clubs work very well, but mine are a bit old now so can't say from personal experience.