Megabear2

That was good, as you'll appreciate though a lot of those balconies are completely blocked. If I'm booking select I deliberately check the view on the CC check obstructed views thread it's very helpful. However if it's a saver you are of course relying on P&OS choice and some are unfortunately totally blocked.

Hello Jane. Thank you for thinking of me. Been a very nice uneventful day today, very normal in fact. Just returned to the lovely quiet cabin a short time ago to catch up on some work stuff for my husband but had a lovely dinner for Celebration Night (lobster and prawns made a surprise reappearance) and then went to watch the Digital show in the theatre. I've finally got round to booking my spa for tomorrow so plan more relaxation. Captain Camby's report is for stiff breezes tomorrow with showers so it seemed the ideal thing to do. It's amazing how much difference being in a quiet location and being able to relax has made. If it carries on like today I might even forget the first three days. Will give an update tomorrow but all in all it's been a good day. (P.s. I've had a reply from one of my contacts to ask if they're looking after me properly now and to say a surprise is on it's way later this week to cheer me up)

Please don't be put off. Everyone has their own opinions and a lot are comparing things from years ago. Britannia is a lovely ship, one of my favourites. I'm sure you will have a great time.

I've just read all this with great interest after being bitten on the rear end by the cheap fare fly. In no way taking sides but I followed the link out of interest and the saver fare is currently at £1698 and is a fully obstructed balcony while the clear one is £1958. The select fare would take it to £3084 with £480 obc. Knowing Britannia very well the obstructed balconies are as described fully obstructed and of course they are very narrow so you might as well be inside. I also note that most of these extremely reduced fares are on what I would call "cold weather" itineraries and we go back to what I said many months ago, all the cruise lines are offering a vast number of cruises up that way from the UK so there may well be an over supply. Up until two weeks ago (not been checking since as I've been away) the average difference between a saver and select fare balcony has been hovering around the £1,000 to £1,200 mark.

Modelled on me ... a baby elephant!

If you're prepared to take the inside saver fare virtually every 2023 14 night P&O cruise is under £1,000pp at present. Arvia balconies, again saver, are around £1,100 to £1200pp. If you're wanting different itineraries and a selection of cabins the price rises substantially. Many don't care where they are or what room they have, then they can get terrific bargains this year. Remember though it was mentioned that this year was exceptional because they planned on 70% occupancy so have the 30% bonus they can play with. No guarantee it will last and 2024 and 2025 prices are certainly substantially higher at first look.

Depends what grade of cabin you take. We paid just short of £8,000 for two for Britannia last Christmas and it was an extremely disappointing experience so much so that we cancelled our already booked Christmas 2023 cruise.

Sadly not me. They look really sweet, we could have had a teddy bear picnic. Actually the bear has been very quiet on this cruise and spent most of the past few days in angry mode, ears back and growling while peaking out of the top of my backpack. Today, he was delighted to have a wander round and meet people. Travelling with a bear has great advantages you know, everyone seems to loves them. A great icebreaker, it's one of the reasons I get chatting to so many people, they're very intrigued why a lady of my age carries a teddy bear around. We just had tea in the Atrium and he didn't get a cake or even a marmalade sandwich like his distant cousin from Peru. However i've just come back to the room and found we have a visitor, not seen one of these on P&O in years.

I found it this afternoon and can confirm there are now proper notices. Very popular it seems. I liked the chairs in the shade as well. The round wooden pod seating was very pleasant and well used.

I was originally allocated after booking the cabin no. 4247 - booked 31.3.2023 allocated 03.04.23, upgraded 06.04.23. You are correct, when I booked I could only select an area, I chose forward inside then as I say they allocated 4247. I now have the one next door.

Yes there are. Deck 15 aft balconies. They gave me one to sleep in on the second night. There's a bank of about 10 each side. No one in them though - they had to check before they let me go there to sleep.

Seems a totally reasonable suggestion but I doubt it's going to be taken onboard. I'm sure many would be happy with that. Unfortunately most I've had contact with say they aren't keen on the ship. I'm sitting with a lovely family of 20 at the moment, their second cruise after Ventura 7 years ago. They're disappointed after waiting 14 months for this holiday. Nothing to do with noise in their case but they are encountering balcony smoking and general issues including kids on the dance floor at 11.00pm during the silent disco and inability to book tables near each other as a large group.

A very good.morning! Normality has thankfully returned. The new cabin is exceptionally quiet, slept like a log without even a creak. Woke this morning refreshed and ready to face the new day. Pottered about unpacking a few bits - don't laugh but I am reluctant to unpack everything just in case! Anyway decided I was hungry so jumped in the shower quickly and thought I'd look at the app for a breakfast in MDR. Meridian showed a queue of 30 so I thought join that one. Started dressing, one leg in the trousers and the phone went off - your table's ready. That was exactly 3 minutes. There I am front of the ship not even knowing where the restaurant is. Okay I'm on my way I have 15 minutes. Arrived with 5 minutes to spare. Had a nice sharing table for 8, a lovely crowd. There were some seving problems all round but.mine arrived unscathed. People were missing items, the guy next to me got no sausage or tomato.on.his order and the promised delivery arrived when his plate was clear. Wrong toast for others, only one poached egg when two were ordered. The staff were apologetic and everyone took it in good part. There are clearly some service issues in there. I noticed the not booked line was quite long, this was 8.45. Overall I found Meridian with quite low ceilings which made it loud and echo filled too big. No refills of coffee arrived for anyone on the table either. The staff looked pressured The good news. We transited the rough weather fine and this.morning is gloriously sunny and warm with a very nice light breeze. Beautiful just what I needed. I've decanted to deck 18 and have a sunbed just back from the pool. There is a row of seats facing the ocean in front which will offer a little shade later on. I'm not planning on moving for a while with my trusty kindle in hand. Relaxation will be the order of the day. There's a very small pool, I can see this might be a problem with kids, it's actually minute three pulls and I'm down the length. The one two decks down is slightly bigger but already rammed with no beds or chairs in sight. It's black tie.night. I'm thankfully booked for Zenith.at 6.30 as my breakfast dining companions are unable to reserve anywhere so are going to try the queue later. One of them was on the cruise before last (He loves the ship) but said it was a giant.bunfight the last time. Sounds interesting... Time to chill. Have a great day everyone.

The luggage has arrived. Time for bed. Thanks for keeping my spirits up. A new day tomorrow and hopefully a second chance.

It's not the cabin that's frustrating it's the constant not turning up at prearranged meetings, the wait in your cabin, the we have a solution oh no we don't, the shrug of the shoulders that these unnecessary appointments and waits have cost me two days of my holiday. And sadly I'm certainly not alone. Reception have a list with 30 names on it, I was shown it yesterday when I queried why the man next to me had been given a cabin in front of me, mind you I think that was because he presented the entire family in their nightwear at 1.00am. Fact is they've admitted to me and others they know there's a noise issue but HO keep selling the cabins leaving them no way out.

If you don't like it nothing to be lost in asking. You don't say how many of you travelling, they may have thought if you were a family you would like it. I once had the same happen on an MSC cruise on the Divina. As I was travelling alone I would have rattled around like a lone coffee bean in a tin. I asked at reception if they could swap me with someone else in a balcony and on sailing got the call to say a family would love the swap.

They didn't and I did!!!! After going back down at 7.05pm I was told if I left the cabin area they wouldn't be able to move me tonight. I cancelled the meal in Green & Co via reception and went back to the room. At 8.00pm I got a call to say go and eat and then come back to reception. As I'd now not eaten since 6.15pm yesterday apart from my ice cream ashore I headed to the Quays for fish and chips. A man with one leg came to sit with me and have a chat (no it isn't a joke and has relevance below). Transpired he was on his first cruise having travelled from Cornwall. His booking had been made via a reputable travel agent and he had a deck 16 semi disability friendly cabin - he was riding in some very smart buggy thing but very nifty at transferring on a crutch. Anyway his agent had done all the necessary paperwork and disability forms and he arrived at Southampton to board and there his problems began. The check in staff called a health and safety man in stating they weren't going to let him board because he wouldn't be able to have a 4 man lift in the event of an emergency because everyone was allocated and as a late booking they could only source one handler for him. I don't understand this jargon but I know many of you will know what it all means. My new friend was taking the cruise as his house was being ripped to pieces to make adjustments following his leg loss so couldn't go home. H&S man arrived and after 1 1/2 hours of discussion told him he'd have to prove he could walk up and down the stairs by actually doing so in front of them. He then had to use his crutch and go up and down a dozen steps three times while they watched. This all sounded pretty astonishing to me but he assured me it happened. Having completed his "exercise" the H&S man said well you look pretty nifty so I'll stamp you okay to board. He's happy to be here, likes his cabin but hates the buffet as no staff help him and he relies on fellow passengers for help with drinks etc - no trays of course. Hearing all this made me feel quite humble about the noise. Anyway after an hour I returned to reception and said any news. And miracle of miracles there was! A new cabin, inside deck 4 forward. Very strangely its next door to my original non upgraded one. Couple of more hiccups - I'm locked out of my old room and all my worldly possessions are in there but I've been in the new room which is quiet and had no men in it. So now I'm waiting for my worldly goods to be brought to me by the deck staff. They may not get here until after 11.00pm as they're apparently on other duties around the ship. Luckily I have my phone and handbag with valuables with me but I can't do much else but wait. The television works here as well, the last one didn't for some reason. Salvation might be coming with tomorrow a new dawn in the Atlantic ocean with gale force winds and a heavy swell. I can confirm that Arvia moves a lot compared with Britannia, Azura and Queen Victoria all of which I've had the foremost inside cabin on before. It's a good job I love the movement which is why I booked forward to start with.

Well I'm still here! Someone is apparently on their way, but I'm none the wiser where I'm going. Much as I appreciate its tempting I'd be glad if this doesn't turn in to a why are we cruising with P&O thread. It's bad enough it's taken the turn it did with me, it's meant to be a happy thread! In my case after my last three cruises on P&O and Princess it should probably be why are you cruising on anything to do with Carnival, but then I remember my much loved Queens and think I'll just have to become more selective - warts and all with duck a'lorange and caviar if they put it on the menu as mentioned elsewhere.

Very well put. However it's not just putting it right but how the hell they got to a point where around 100 cabins are clearly not soundproofed properly and head office expects the poor front desk staff to handle the situation. It may well be 200 people out of 6,000 who are upset and inconvenienced on each cruise but those poor people are getting the flack day in day out on every sailing. If it's a known problem and broken, cut your losses and don't sell the affected cabins until you can rectify the issue would surely be the sensible choice. As you've probably guessed I'm still waiting, sitting here surrounded by packed bags.

I'm beginning to wonder why I am! This is an experience I'd never wish on my worst enemy to be honest. I was due on Iona on 3 June, I'm not now. I asked my husband to get it cancelled for me, thankfully used my friend who's a travel agent so he did it easily this afternoon. I had a saver balcony booked and I'd rather lose the money than go through this again. Same type of ship, might not have the same problems but my sanity says it would be a very bad choice just in case. I'm keeping the Arcadia trip to Canada for now, I've only paid a small deposit so would be able to cancel before final balance in June. Really depends on how they rectify this and treat me on my return and that will sway my decision. Not going to book the North Cape trip now, much as I wanted to. I'm just so, so glad I cancelled the Arvia Christmas cruise we had booked when we came home from Britannia at Christmas just gone. My husband would never have recovered if he'd been subjected to this.

I emailed Paul Ludlow's office and my contact 45 minutes ago. I've just been told to pack, at 5.30pm they'll know what's happening. No idea myself. Anyway I now have an even senior guy looking after me who tells me he's waiting for instructions from HO and top management onboard. Meantime he has cancelled my 6.00pm dinner reservation at Green & Co and moved it to 7.15pm as he is confident I'm going somewhere around 6.00pm. Just been sitting in the little side room with four others all making complaints rather loudly including two gents who are in a full suite and have no amenities (whatever they are) and have been told all select restaurants are fully booked for the entire voyage. Another lady has some sort of Deck 8 forward suite thing and has had kids standing on chairs staring in at her! While I was queuing to hand in my questionnaire and to meet the guy who called me the man in front posted his questionnaire and said to me "they won't be very happy with that". I feel sorry for the staff.

Well I'm back on-board .... not sure whether to laugh or cry now! Message at 14.28 - the cabin we were sourcing for you is no longer available. We wanted to update you and will continue to try to monitor the situation with noise. At present we are trying to source a solution. And then the attached was outside the door. How rude do you think I can be when completing it ...

Bless you. Thank you for your understanding, it's always easier to deal with these things when you're not on your own. The annoying thing is the ship itself is good and I'm certain if you aren't one of the hundred or so people in the dud cabins you'd have a lovely holiday. What's exacerbating it for me is all the promises of meetings, moving etc when no one turns up. I'm sure they don't mean to be unkind but the truth is the ship is full and if your one of the unlucky ones they can't help you no matter how much they might wish to. Any way the good news is there's a 17.40 flight to LHR from Palma on Friday with decent availability for £168 and if they don't sort me when I go back my husband's booking me on.

Never mind Italy, my husband is looking at flights from Palma for me as we speak. I'm ashore as no call was received, the sun's come out and I'm.seriously not wanting to get back on. At least I enjoyed a glass of wine and an ice cream to cheer me up.

A very good day to you all. The farce continues!! Pleased to say I've had 10 hours sleep only interrupted intermittently by the neighbouring cabins flushing their lavatories, banging their doors at 2.00am and then the scrapping of chair arrangements above my head. Despite all this the total exhaustion and stress meant I was able to drop off again very quickly. I did eat my dinner in Olive Grove which took 1 1/2 hours for three courses so I trundled up to the temporary room at 8.00pm to retire. Big problem. Despite my having previously in the room the card wouldn't operate the door. No one around, like the Marie Celeste so took 10 minutes wandering around before finding a staff member who accompanied me back to the room. Its double locked he says, not for occupation! Ahh but I've already been in there I say, my bag is inside. Can't help that, it's double locked. Well I'm sorry but I'm not going all the way back down from deck 15 to deck 7 reception to join a queue, can you please call them to confirm I can go in there? Okay, off he disappeared and 5 minutes later back with a master card to open the door, a magic click and apparently the double lock is off. Simples ... okay time for bed it's now approaching 9.00pm but what the heck the bed looks good. Into the bathroom for the loo, tooth clean quick freshen up and into pjs. Major problem as I reach for the toilet roll ... there isn't one, in fact on looking around there's absolutely nothing at all in this bathroom. So there I am waddling into the main room searching cupboards to find nothing, zilch except loads of pillows. Throw my clothes back on, take the lift back down, go to my old cabin (this by now was vibrating to the sounds of Pulse gold) and raid it for a towel and lavatory roll. So apologies to any guests reading this who saw the strange woman in a state of cross dress with pyjama bottoms and a sparkly evening top wandering around with two towels and a loo roll. As I say I did then manage to go to bed. I woke too late for breakfast as I had an appointment with the reception manager for the next discussion. Presented myself at 9.30 as instructed, asked for the lady by name as instructed. Who said you should ask for her? She did here's the note she gave me. She's not available. Why not, she made the appointment? There's crew exercises for the next 1 1/2 hours, come back at 3.00pm when she's next on duty. NO! She made the appointment not me I want it dealt with, I'm on holiday and this is now farcical and extremely distressing. I'm sorry madam she's not here. Okay is no once in charge or looking after your guests? Please go to the room where you met with her yesterday, someone will come. How long will they be? Can't say, please wait there. I suddenly hear another conversation from down the end from a man who was demanding another cabin as he can't sleep in his and 48 hours with such a noise is intolerable. So now there's two of us waiting, blocking reception. My lady returns go to the small waiting area, someone will be there in 5 minutes. I go as instructed and sit down. It all gets too much and embarrassingly I end up in floods of tears. 5 minutes pass and I'm tapped on the shoulder by a lady in a white suit. I'm taking over she says, we do have another room for you, it's on deck 4 at the inside grade you booked as there's no other rooms anywhere at all. Once you feel better I'll take you there to show you it. This lady was very nice, understanding. After 10 minutes I felt able to go with her. Down we go, she has key in hand. Get to deck 4, she knocks on the door to the room, waits a couple of seconds and enters ... to find a load of gentleman's clothing and a voice from the bathroom calling hello? We back out quickly and stand in the corridor, she gets on the radio com, are you sure this is the right room it's occupied by a contractor! Lots of crackling. At this point I became very dizzy lent against the back wall and promptly fainted. Came round a minute later to find her and two very kind passengers above me. It's such fun all this, now I'm having anxiety attacks to add to the situation. Anyway after 10 minutes looking a bit like Bambi I'm back on my feet and following my lady back to the room next to reception on Deck 7. On arrival she tells me there's been a mistake - you don't say - and they aren't sure which room I'm being given. We sit and wait and have a chat to pass the time. Transpires she has just come off Arcadia and only wanted to work on small ships. How on earth did you get on here then? They're very short of staff and needed an experienced people focused staff member. Well in fairness she is very nice, friendly and understands mental health issues and stress as she's suffered herself over the years. Sounds the ideal candidate for the job, but apparently it's not such a nice place to be if you actually care about the people because there's very little she can do to alleviate their problems. That sadly is from the person tasked with helping. Meantime I've been sent back to my room to await a call for what happens next. We've agreed if the call doesnt come by noon I'm going to go ashore - it's all onboard by 4.30pm. I'm apparently to pack my cases - I'm doing this very slowly with no enthusiasm as I write. To be truthful I just want to go home now, this isn't a holiday, it's a round of cancelled appointments, arguments, tears and stress.