mandylennon

The main restaurants will also be open in the evening. The first day goes really quick what with unpacking, attending muster drill, having a wonder around the ship, going to dinner, then a show, drink in the bar, husband goes to the casino and then off to bed and relax you are cruising.

When you hand over your cases in Southampton to The Baggage Company, double check and get them to write down for you the day that they will be dropping off the cases, we were told the wrong day so waited in for nothing. I now ring and check with them the day they are collecting and dropping off.

You can order what you want from room service for breakfast if you are on a early trip.

Yes they can come out of onboard credit, it may appear on your statement after a day or two.

If you check at your allocated time, your cabin should be ready. I personally would carry bottles in hand luggage, with my luck they would break and spill over clothes.

I think that there will more choice and better prices with the competition now with fly cruises. It obviously costs P&O a lot for cruises from Southampton and these cruises will always tend to cost a little more and take up a few days either end of cruise getting to the sunshine and back, unless you fly.

A few years ago (as far as I can see) there was a big difference in the cruises offered from P&O and the then Thomson cruises (now Marella), but reading recent reviews it appears they are very comparable pricewise, eating and entertainment.

As regards to the entertainment, it seems the way forward with P&O with the Limelight club on Britannia, that they only way to see a recognised act is to pay a supplement and no doubt this will happen for the new ship in 2020.

As this is not school holidays, would think you stand a good chance of gettng a cabin. I have watched cruises beforehand and there seem to be quite a few cabins available upto 2 weeks beforehand. It is then that P&O upgrade existing customers. Good luck with the tests and getting on a cruise.

Have you made sure everything has been added on the cruise personaliser and you have green ticks by all the details you have to enter, ie passport. If you have then e ticket should be available any time soon. Just keep checking. Sometimes you get an email.

We also take a Robinsons squeezy bottle to add to water as unfortunately P&O do not provide any squash, free or chargeable.

My son was 14 on his first P&O cruise. He preferred the kids club on P&O as they had limits as to how many children of that age group can attend. RCI do not have limits and can take as many children as they like. On RCI he was 16 and the club was mainly just a get together with no timed activities. This was a few years ago though.

Ventura is currently undergoing a refit, with new shops being added. I have purchased perfume onboard, but know the prices beforehand. Usually buy a handbag in the sales to get a bargain.

It will come about everywhere in the future, but I am happy ordering from the P&O menu and do not need the calorie details on it. It is easier for bigger fast food restaurant chains to be more accurate with standard meal sizes, whereas P&O dishes do vary in size and content.

Just take a lightweight jacket and tie, that should not take up so much space, then you will have the option of eating in the mdr or buffet.

Yes, wait until you board to get special deals they usually appear towards the second half of the cruise.

My son was 15 on his first cruise and he still says it was his best holiday. The cruise was 2 weeks and from the first day he went to the kids club all the time. He was fortunate that he met up with with others that had several cruises and showed him around. He liked the P&O kids club as it did have a timetable as to what they were doing each day, although if they didn't want to do that, they could do something else. On the formal nights he did eat with us first and went to the club after and they all had their photos taken together. With regards to kids menu, I remember it was a pretty standard kids menu, although you can still ask for anything not on the menu and your waiter will ask. You can always ask for extra chips etc. They can also order from the main menu. He also ate with his friends in the buffet and out on deck on sea days. The only problem we had was that the kids club finished at 1 a.m.which was late especially when we had to get up early next morning for a trip. This was a few years ago as he is 22 now. I think for younger children you have to sign them in and out.

You can see the schedule at http://www.sport24-tv.com/Schedule, for cruises and flights, so no it won't be shown onboard, sorry.

That's what I do with my sons, much easier to go in and when they come back to cabin, they pop round to let us know they are in. I do ring them on the cabin phone sometimes. Be aware that they lock them on the last evening.

We have been on Ventura twice, C deck, both middle and at the front, if cost is important, go towards the front, we saved quite a lot on 3 cabins.

Just check when booking, that you want the balcony doors opened to make sure the cabins booked can be opened.

No, they don't publish the list of staff on the website anymore. The last Moments magazine, which was sent out about October last year, did list them, but I do not have it anymore.

New rules (at the moment) only apply to alcohol, not soft drinks.

I too can only manage 3 meals a day, so no snacks for me. Some of the excursions in Norway include a coffee and cake.

Have only seen pilates onboard. It was free.

Our family love Stephen, "unbelievable", Mulhern. But then we love Saturday Night Takeaway and Catchphrase. Would be great to see him though, maybe he will be onboard to oversee the shows. He is a magician and Jonathon Wilkes a singer, so I am presuming this new show will be a bit of both. A good move as the entertainment shows need updating all the time.

Azura is my choice, well it would be as we are going on her to the Fjords in June. Not tried Britannia so cannot comment. We went last June on Aurora and had great weather, so we spent a lot of time on our balcony.

If you are going to Flam, remember to book the train yourselves direct, as it gets booked up and the ships excursion is £84. If you book yourself £55. The station is at the port. We went in June last year and had fabulous sunny weather. Going again this June, still going to pack a bit of everything.

Yes, it is fleet wide. It is a shame, the previous menu was quite small but handy when my son was younger and did not want to come to dinner with us everyday, he could order a pizza and meet up with us after.