Megabear2

As someone who has encountered baby buggies/strollers in corridors, particularly on Arvia last year, I was surprised that Carnival seem to have omitted mention of them from their circulation to travel agents and passengers. Certainly been a lot of discussion elsewhere on CC about the enforcement. https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-cracking-down-on-mobility-scooters/125481 https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-notifies-guests-of-specific-policy/122283

I believe Moley mentioned on the closed Maleth thread that the Britannia Barbados flights were confirmed and signed up with TUI and P&O were looking to source for Arvia, particularly the Antigua sailings. The first post in this thread appears to confirm these are the flights not decided yet.

+1

There were three price increases last year with another one pending. The alcoholic drinks are apparently tax free and pure profit. The glass of wine I purchased at £16.50 in January was very nice, but as another poster told me way back in this thread the bottle is currently available in the UK for around £19.00 tax paid. That bottle to purchase onboard was £47.00. The "base" drinks are relatively cheap to us southerners yes, but my northern friends take me in pubs and bars local to them where a pint of decent beer is around £4.00 and a standard glass if wine is not much more. I'm not so sure they'd consider it so reasonable, mind you they looked quite faint in my local at the £6.35 Peroni lager.

I appreciate you personally do not want to know her medical details, but unfortunately the newspapers and news outlets most certainly do. I'd guess the photograph was released to stop some of the ridiculous speculation and probably was picked hastily. With all that's going on with the family at present that's hardly surprising to be honest. Manipulation of photographs ... unless the suggestion is that Catherine or someone else wasn't in the original picture then we seem to be talking about what you or I would call editing, most likely to make the photograph look nice. I was very interested to know what "manipulation" means to the press agencies and found this item on entries for the Worldpress Photo of the Year competition. It's fascinating reading in light of what's going on, although I doubt Prince William was intending to enter his family snap into such a competition. https://www.worldpressphoto.org/contest/2024/verification-process/what-counts-as-manipulation

Even better, you get mentioned in the same line as me. I'm obviously flattered! I agree the speciality dining is currently good value, however TigerB seems to have gained the impression that those prices may well be included in these new price increases. With such a push to sell these restaurants and the very many times people are complaining they can't get s booking, the cynic in me wonders whether there could be a plan to hike these prices considerably or to start offering a dining package. Certainly the other Carnival lines have been doing a form of this, even the new Cunard ship is going to be inundated with these pay extra restaurants.

Thank you for that information as I will be going through Madeira in the next few months. Are the taxis metered or show a registration number somewhere? Otherwise I assume it just look at the list or maybe there's something in the port building as there is in other places?

A very Happy Birthday to Pauline, wishing her a wonderful day on which I'm sure she'll quite rightly be spoiled rotten!

Maybe because it's completely unnecessary and nothing to be gained by doing so? Here is the news: young lady is unwell and requires medical intervention. Rightly she asks for privacy. Who amongst us would like our private medical details exposed to all? Let's be honest, you can't even access your own partner or other family members' medical records without express written permission, not even if a person is in hospital and unable to communicate. You need to fill in an access form and it goes in your records. The newspapers and media seem to be saying that shouldn't apply to the Princess of Wales or even the King. I wonder how those journalists and commentators would feel if any Tom, Dick or Harry could ask to see their private medical information.

So the starboard cabin will be the one gor the view leaving New York based on this. Thank you.

Great. I'll look out for him then! On a serious note I wasn't singling anywhere out as unsafe but just replying as to why P&O say try not to look like a tourist. As I said my friend was very stupid and didn't think. The chain wasn't something he ever thought about as it was worn every day and not removed for 30 odd years, he said almost a part of him. He had a large knife waved at him, probably for show the police thought. His insurance paid out nearly £8,000 but as it was Turkish gold and old the thieves got something worth far more. Lesson learned

Thank you all. Motion sickness isn't thankfully generally a problem so 8 and 12 wouldn't be a problem from that point of view. I was looking at possibly 11085 as on another topic I noted comments it was good for viewing the sail out of New York to be on the starboard side. I assume the overhang stops any sun entering the balcony? My only experience of that sort of thing was on deck 15 of P&O Britannia but it was welcomed as it was in the Caribbean. Overall of the 18 available cabins are any of them considered better or worse than each other or are they all about the same and a personal preference on position. Thanks again.

Are there two Feefo ones? The ones I fill in do have the excursions but they are a separate box at the end. The big box at the beginning takes general comments on your experience. It takes quite a bit - 1,000 characters if I recall. The Feefo website has two sections, one covers general.opinions/comments and the other the excursions. The latter is quite helpful as you can click through on your planner to see the excursions reviews and comments before booking

Thank you. I was unaware of the overhang! If you are in 11069 I assume these would avoid it too? 11068, 72, 76, 78, 82, 85, 90, 94.

Due to a family commitment I am currently rearranging a trip booked for this year on Queen Anne to something departing before 8 September 2025. I am seriously considering the 21 day transatlantic on QM2 round trip Southampton via Norway, Iceland, Canada, New York. Speaking to Cunard today I have been offered a few balcony options, most of which are deck 11 but with four on deck 8 and two on deck 12 thrown into the mix. I have sailed QM2 many times but mainly in deck 2 or 3 singles or insides, one trip in deck 8 obstructed balcony being the other one. We are on QM2 for the 35 night January Caribbean next year anc chose a sheltered balcony but this time round with summer sailing wanted a "normal" one. I'd therefore much appreciate some advice/help on these remaining few cabins. Choices are: 8002, 8003, 8008 or 8012 12002, 12008 11062, 64, 68, 72, 76, 78, 82, 90, 94 11085 11112, 11114 I am assuming the Norwegian/Iceland section will be quite scenic and we would want to use the balcony quite a bit and hopefully, fingers crossed, even on the transatlantic sections. My husband has never sailed in/out of New York, in fact he's never been there so again choice of cabin if it influences this would be helpful. Many thanks.

Indeed, but I do have to ask if everyone would be being so sympathetic and outraged at the coverage if the young lady who lives across the Pond had been the one to have committed this faux pas ...

Thank you. These were the ones sent to me some while back. As you know I didn't actually get very far on my January cruise to enjoy any drinks! Maybe I've made the right decision in December then. P&O gave me £500 FCC and a couple of other bits as we couldn't use our OBC when I became ill (some of this was extra compensation for my dreaded Arvia cruise last May) and I have booked my Christmas cruise with the 20% of drinks package deal and will use some of the additional to upgrade onboard if we don't like the inclusions. Because of deteriorating health conditions we aren't taking a deluxe balcony this year because of the bath over shower situation so even taking the drinks package we are saving £1,500 on our last Britannia cruise. That cruise was way over priced as it was a swap out from an Arvia Christmas cruise booked on launch and I had to meet the 1p over criteria. The wine we particularly like is £11.25 for 175ml glass or £16.50 for the 250ml. It was on sale at £47.00 a bottle in January so I reasoned with an average daily spend of £50.00 for coffees, teas, water, beer and soft drinks on a normal day I won't have much to lose If the prices are rising again, I might not regret taking the drinks deal after all - my OH wasn't too keen but as it was effectively "free" money I thought I'd lost I thought why not.

At least it's better than Jamaica. Unfortunately most of the Caribbean is extraordinarily poor, third world countries mostly. They are between the devil and the sea needing tourists but being ill equipped with roads, infrastructure etc and having a lot of very under privileged people not happy with the tourists ignoring their plight and visiting only for sea, sand and rum. Hence I find the whole region fascinating and do a lot of reading and research on individual islands and their history and it seems the British, Dutch and French in particular left a lot to be desired. Interestingly out of the blue the Dutch government apologised to the islands they were involved with in 2023 but it remains to be seen what they will do.

The Government safety and security site makes interesting reading on that front too! "Crime There have been incidents of crime in St Lucia including murder, armed robbery and sexual assault. There is a continuing serious risk of homicides, primarily gang related and involving guns. Some incidents have taken place in public areas. Take precautions to protect your personal safety: make sure your accommodation is secure – this also applies if you’re staying on a yacht take care when walking alone off main roads and during late night street parties avoid isolated areas, including beaches, after dark only use licensed taxis do not carry large amounts of cash or jewellery leave valuables and travel documents in your hotel safe or a safety deposit box "

I agree St Lucia is a bad choice. It's not a particularly nice area around the port on the town side and unfortunately it has considerably more crime than other islands. Personally I wouldn't consider going out in the night time unless on some sort of excursion which there doesn't seem to be at present. A rather idiotic friend of mine forgot he had on a rather lovely gold necklace he'd had for years and had the misfortune to be robbed in broad daylight while walking from one side of the port area to the other - it's him who gets the safety mention in Horizon!

I can't say about ABTA affecting you, but as you know I'm extremely vociferous about not only issues I've had personally or things I feel are unfair to all cruisers and what I consider unfair terms. I'd have thought if there were a blacklist I'm probably very high on it! Joking apart I use the Feefo questionnaire very much as the survey in the first place in case I do not receive a separatelne. I have to say I do however always get both and I find P&O extremely helpful and fair on my individual problems. Generally I have never commented on food quality or availability as it is simply a matter of personal choice and opinion. However rude or bad service certainly would be mentioned, failure to undertake something they promised to do or inferior products would get a mention.

I can't say average as the published list obviously doesn't include all wines for instance (see attached). However the Villa Marie Seaspray Sauvignon Blanc was costing £16.50 for 250ml on Britannia in January and does not appear on this list. Basics however: Cocktails £7.15, one or two £7.95 and £8.50 Single spirits £4.25 to £4.60 175ml wines £5.75 - £7.15 (the latter is most frequent) 250ml wines £6.95 to £9.10 (with exceptions of others being much higher) Draft beer £5.05 John Smith's £5.30 Birra Moretti British ales £5.05 - £5.15 a bottle Cider £5.30 a bottle Obviously there are others but these are the basics and included in the two drinks packages. I most certainly do look at the costs of some items and have a set budget for my onboard expenditure. I book in advance all my excursions, dining, spa etc and my onboard spend is just my drinks etc. Last cruise £640obc plus a £340 Commodore 12 bottle wine package so £980 overall available to spend for alcohol, teas, coffees, water, soft drinks, ice cream etc.

I loved following along with you, particularly as my own Britannia trip was somewhat curtailed this year by the dreaded lurgy. It's been great visiting everywhere with you and extremely interesting to get another view on something that is a great love of mine. Regarding overnights, next Caribbean season P&O are cutting a port of call for Britannia - St Kitts - and including an overnight in St Lucia. Personally I'm a bit disappointed with the choice of overnight stop as St Lucia and would have preferred somewhere like Curacao, Aruba or Antigua, but at least it seems they're getting the message. Again, thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to take us all along, I know it's a huge commitment to do so and am very grateful.

Presumably you have very little observation or what could be construed a complaint or in need of major improvement in your replies? Obviously if the answers are all high starring they won't bother. As a matter of interest do they make any comment or acknowledgement answer of Feefo to you? An example: we took an excursion on a catamaran in Grenada two years ago. Due to weather conditions it should never have run due to sea conditions. I wrote my views on my otherwise positive Feefo request. Checked back 24 hours later and online answer in a matter of hours apologising and asking me to detail my experience to customer service by email, which I did. Acknowledged in 24 hours with details of an investigation with the ship, reply to be 28 days. Day 27 call received to discuss the matter, apology received and money refunded plus some extra OBC on my next cruise. I always give high praise where due on my forms as it's very easy to be negative by accident. However if something is obviously wrong and needs improvement I do say so. Nothing is ever perfect in life so I leave petty things out but do not hesitate to suggest where things were okay but could be improved. My feedback is generally acknowledged, good or bad which I appreciate.

In my experience if you complete the Feefo one you get a questionnaire follow up and if there are genuine points with problems a call or reply asking you to pass the things on to customer service. This has happened with my last five P&O cruises. Some of my points were pretty mundane but I still got asked to do the follow ups.