Megabear2

Perception plays a lot to do with choice. Princess is regularly shown on television in documentaries and other programmes and anyone watching would get the impression it was fairly upmarket with a happy but not rowdy clientele. Shows such as the Suan Calman and Jane McDonald cement that view. Not for the party set. Remember when the cruise programmes moved to look at Virgin Voyages? These boards were full of comments that there's no way we'll be sailing on that and yet the people who do sail on the ships seem very happy with the product so it is right in the correct marketplace. As a country we have developed an attitude to turn a blind eye to misbehaviour. Anyone commenting on something that they consider wrong is ridiculed or told they are woke. We are a nation who have for many years excused some pretty abysmal behaviour associated with drinking. The drunken shenanigans across Europe have for many years been ignored or dismissed by many as just high spirits. They have not been so. They have been disrespectful, rude and in a lot of cases dangerous. The facts and figures speak for themselves, our relationship with alcohol is in no way a good one. If you become the cheap end of any market you are unfortunately risking introducing this "element". It's not the drinks package that's causing the problem, it's the people.

The British ?

I probably have. I called P&O who told me flights are fluctuating in the same way as prices! Basically what's sold out may change through the day if someone can't travel apparently. Seemed total nonsense. Anyway the operator used the 22 night trip back to UK in March as an example. Apparently sold out with flights for a couple of weeks and then on Sunday flights opened up from Manchester and London but it only lasted a couple of hours according to her records. She was bemused I had a mock booking showing cruise only and flight from London on 3 February as she couldn't sell me that option. However bizarrely she had a Cardiff flight showing (CDX) but as far as she knew no Cardiff flights existed for that date. I passed at that point! All seems most weird. I have rechosen accordingly based on one with flights definitely available. It appears there are charters from both Gatwick and Heathrow on 18 February, one on TUI and one on Virgin. No idea if it's correct - nothing else is - but I was told there is a shortage of aircraft in the period of half term and hence the amount of cruise only trips.

Every review I've read bar one refers to this. It has put me off sailing on Arcadia and I rejected a section on the 2024 world cruise as a result.

Thank you for your research, much obliged! I hadn't seen the singles page which was very helpful. Just so I'm not going insane I used the 305A Asian example and did a dummy booking. Results attached.

I have been looking into these for a last minute February trip and noticed that most are now showing cruise only on the website. I have as a matter of interest clicked into some of these to see how much it costs for one person. Strangely on a few of these flight only deals if you click choose flights it gives you the option to add a flight from xyz. I've tried it on a couple of Arvia cruises and it told me it had added a flight from London which was included and also a couple of Azura cruises did the same adding flights from Manchester. Is this a false flag, ie if I went on to complete the booking would the flights be removed? It all seems very confusing and I wonder if anyone has experience of this. I'd be worried someone might just book if the flight is removed at the final stage and there isn't a warning. As there are such a large number of these Caribbean cruises showing no flight availability does it mean they aren't going to be able to sell all the cabins or do travel agents put together packages in conjunction with P&O to fill them?

At the time I was having a few health problems onboard with an ear infection so I couldn't be too bothered once I got home. I never actually asked for anything and they volunteered it about two months after we returned, apparently a follow up from my complaint to Reception on noise issues. It was actually a surprise but my OH said he had a feeling it probably happened regularly and not many would be happy with Freddie Mercury playing in their room at 2.00am!

You're obviously psychic as you and I did the same the other day!

Until that time we always booked deluxe balconies but now if the availability on Britannia is not in the higher two grades which aren't on deck 15 we will just book a standard balcony with sofa. Although we love the extra room the premium is in our opinion not worth it if a deck 15 cabin is all that's on offer. I did fight for more than £300 but they wouldn't budge. Eventually I thought it wasn't worth the stress and accepted it. Interestingly no NDA was required.

Did you speak to reception to see if these sound checks or whatever could be done at a more sociable hour? We had a noise problem on deck 15 of Britannia in a deluxe balcony in 2019 and after most in the area complained they tried to do things at a later period. Admittedly they didn't do anything about the very loud music until 2.00am but on our return they did give us compensation of £300.

Yes, they will ask you to order your sweet at same time but there was no trouble if you asked if you could choose later. Unfortunately there was no shellfish in the buffet of Britannia in December, in fact I never saw a prawn or mussel hardly anywhere. It was one of my biggest disappointments as shellfish is a very large part of my diet. However looking at the Britannia menus posted for the cruise before mine it bore no resemblance to ours so we may just have been unlucky.

Get to check in early as possible. As a couple we are normally sat across from each other in aisle seats. Only once been split up completely with my husband mid aircraft and me right at the back - it was the return flight where P&O are actually responsible for allocating seats. The plane was full so no way to change. You get all the things you mention. Keep your headphones for return as they aren't given out on return. There has apparently been quite a few instances of the entertainment system not working on flights this season - we had none on our Christmas flight home which meant those from Birmingham to Barbados had not had any either as thats where the flight arrived from.

Reading the Christmas reviews you might be in luck as they appear to be in short supply.

I happily spend two weeks there regularly. I'm sure the Mall will be delighted to have all these visitors as over the past 6 or 7 years Americans have rather fallen out of love with their malls.

Delighted to hear things are on the up.

Barbados port quotes Arvia as 6,264 and Britannia at 4,406 but I can't recall ever sailing on Britannia with that number either.

Christmas day offering! Thankfully we ate in the Epicurean so never tried the soup which I was reliably informed came with an authentic grease on top.

I struggled with the menu some nights but our lovely waiter Harish always organised something either by way of a mix and match approach or one occasion an upgraded version of the pasta from the children's menu! The food was okay just some of the "mixtures" were odd! Bubble and squeak in all forms including memorably in the form of soup made very many appearances including with roast beef and lamb shank.

Isn’t full around 5,600 if all the bunks are used of 5,200 normal? Sorry for typo before.

Always thought we'd end up there like a very large number from Essex. I visit Aldeburgh every year and stay at the Brudenell Hotel. My husband and I took his mother there for the Festival 20 years ago and stayed there. It was her last trip before she died so holds great sentimental memories for me. I'm usually visiting friends who live on Norfolk/Suffolk borders so deter to Southwold and Oulton Broad where I generally meet some Dutch friends who sail over from Marken Island. Always travel around for 10 days or so before ending up in Newmarket to go racing and visit the studs. Lovely county, so varied, often forgotten.

Careful, someone will call you a snob.

Okay, time to add Benidorm to my list! Repeat after me, there's nothing wrong with Benidorm there's nothing wrong with Benidorm ...

You have a lovely itinerary to look forward to. I wouldn't worry about comments. Everyone has a different cruise even on the same ship. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time no matter how different it may seem at first. Go ahead with an open mind and positive attitude and all this concern will blow away on that lovely sea air!

I now have a vision of all these ladies surrounding a port soaked Stilton!

Over the years there have been loads of debate about its demise - the oldest ones I found were around 2014 and referred to Oriana moving to platesd cheese offerings. For reasons best known to a certain poster on CC every time there is a discussion about falling standards on P&O he brings it up as an example and form of Micky take when people say things aren't as good as they were. He loves the non existent clown as well.