Megabear2

Down here in Salisbury we had a young lad die from a polar bear attack on land. Certainly don't want to get up close with one as a result although I did meet Klondyke the polar bear cub at Sea World many years ago. Understand he's now an enormous creature kept far from the public. My husband has been watching videos of Churchill in Canada where the bears get up.on two paws and look through the window of a tractor you sit inside! I'm doing more research for Greenland as suggested by Happy V, you can never tell.

Thank you all. It's quite exciting. I can't find Fred's excursion list but Princess have a very thorough list here: https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=2313 How do you experts who've been think these would work? Would any of them offer the opportunity to see the whales, puffins and hopefully bears? I've read the CC Destinations section on the area and they say might see the bears floating around on ice! I know absolutely nothing about the region I'm afraid. I take it the Aurora 21 day cruises don't go far enough north? I've found three possibles with Ambassador, two with Princess and 2 with Fred. Any advice on other ports that make a good itinerary much appreciated- there's a big difference in Fred and the other two but it might be far superior itinerary for all I know. Appreciate I'm wandering from P&O as they don't seem to go there at present but these are sample itineraries on Fred, the Princess one is above: https://www.fredolsencruises.com/cruise/exploring-the-arctic-t2316 https://www.fredolsencruises.com/cruise/spitsbergen-with-the-midnight-sun-l2317 As this is a bit of a one off for us - I'm not a fan of cold weather normally - all help much appreciated. Luckily I have piles of ski wear which looking at this I think I might need.

Whales will be good too. Loved whale watching in California. Been doing a bit of research into Churchill in Canada but think that Pippaluck is most definite not going to happen there. More or less guaranteed to see him but at £20,000 for 10 days he will have to wait for me to win the lottery. Looks like P&O is sadly no longer interested in that part of the world so it's a hike to Rosyth from Salisbury for Balmoral or a hop skip and a jump to Southampton but on Island Princess. I can’t see any mention of whales and bears with Princess though. Looks like May to August is best for possible bear sightings just need to find a tour from the ship. Looking at Hattie's photo looks like I'm in the right place!

That has been ongoing for months. If it's going to happen assumedly they're pretty advanced.

I have investigated! Is Spitzbergen the correct place in Norway? I've found a couple of Fred cruises to there but it means leaving from Scotland on Balmoral. I'll no doubt regret it but there appears to be a couple of Princess ones from Southampton next year which state Spitzbergen. The Fred one is around £6500 for a window, couldn't stretch to a balcony, the Princess ones cheaper. Nearly fell of my chair looking at Hurtigruten and Saga ... Nothing on P&O goes near as you say sadly. Pippaluck better be worth it!

Regardless of that having "parked" next to one of these monstrosities in Cannes they must go down as the ugliest ships at sea! Is it correct they don't actually have beds but pull downs? All too OTT for me but would be very interested in how you get on.

Two questions here! I can't see the 2025 Aurora South America/Amazon cruise on the P&O site, any idea where it's hiding? My husband wants to see a wild polar bear(!!) and apparently one or two P&O cruises may offer the opportunity. Anyone got an idea which itineraries I should be looking at please? Thank you.

Have fun. Looking forward to hearing from you. Fingers crossed for a nice easy uneventful crossing.

Most likely because anyone getting a result from a complaint is made to sign a non disclosure agreement.

Zap what time do you like to dine, please? We need a table for 2 relatively early, around 6.15 to 6.30, for medical reasons. Never had a problem before but getting a bit nervous with all this talk of not getting in for ages.

Perhaps these are the new Cunard passengers ... they frequently hold afternoon tea dances on their ships.

I must admit I love transatlantic crossings, mainly using QM2 as my bus home after visiting friends in the US. I also have enjoyed a couple of RCI repositioning cruises on Allure from Barcelona as she took the southern route but only stopped in Malaga, again as a bus to Florida to visit friends. My question on how Iona would fair is because I understand her deck spaces are more limited and her dome stays closed. I've not sailed her personally. Just had friends repositioning on NCL's latest offering the Prima. Slightly different as she went via Iceland and Canada with the hurricane affecting them. However their complaint was how much was unusable in the rough weather as inside facilities are over crowded when the open sections onto the promenade equivalent were closed. Canaries weather although reasonable is not guaranteed to be perfect in January so could Iona encounter this sort of problem? As I say I don't know her so was looking for general opinion on the idea. I'm not a huge fan of Ventura so was thinking this might be an offering I can consider.

My husband likes the lectures and generally on Britannia at least we have been well served even post pandemic. My only gripe on "entertainment" applies to all the cruise lines I've sailed on and that's spa and shops masquerading with so called free events which are in fact just hard sell.

Aurora 21.12.2024 R425 16 nights Canaries

The photo that caught my eye was the chocolate buffet which was Azamara Pursuit 2019 so presumably just before the pandemic.

Seems it's not just P&O modernising, just read this article from a far younger man than me! The Times they are a changing. https://cruise.blog/2022/10/nostalgic-cruise-traditions-being-phased-out

Baltic 19.12 10 nights

If you look at the two 22 night ones they are cruise only. The straight returns do have flights but they use Barbados. There are quite a few of the Arvia Antigua ones cruise only at this stage.

To be truthful I've not looked at them! I noticed the flights aren't available on the 2023 ones and moved on.

Its March in 2023 and strangely does include Key West. I've been looking at February and March cruises the past few days - assuming the insurance issue eases.

As a matter of interest how much more was it for 2023, I see you said prices too high for you?

Isn't this itinerary normally repeated October time? To be honest everything I've seen on all itineraries is a repeat. The Britannia and Arvia fly cruises are identical to this year and next. I'd forgotten about Iona gas supply but assumedly Arvia needs the same and her itineraries don't repeat Tenerife.

I assume that's gone due to the ship ban and reduced access.

Beat me to it! Very stingy and two calls at Tenerife. Ventura cruises look far better itineraries

10 ports on Iona - balcony starts at £4699 (presumably you know where!) 13 ports on Ventura Caribbean- balcony starts at £4799 Ventura has more unusual ports. Iona looks like Britannia's normal 15 night itinerary with two Tenerife stops in and out. Unless you just want to be at sea seems a disappointing itinerary to me.