Megabear2

Yes I visited both last year when in Liverpool, both absolutely beautiful. As someone who loves visiting Cathedrals the £25 is not exceptional. York costs £18.00, Canterbury £17.00 and Westminster Abbey £29.00. As referenced by Graham I happily put money into the collection plate on visits to church and indeed put money in voluntary collection boxes in churches all over the world. My comment is mainly that charging high entry fees may be very off putting to people visiting and becoming engaged with the church. Compulsion to pay rather than voluntary voluntary is I'd guess most offputting. Advance tickets for Madam Tussauds and the London Eye are £50 yet to visit St Paul's and Westminster Abbey is £54! Incidentally on my own "moan" about Salisbury Cathedral our council tax for many years carried an amount towards living in its diocese.

It is very sad to see churches closing, unfortunately it is not restricted to Anglican ones. The loss of a church is unfortunately a sign of the changing demographic of the population of the UK. The removal of things like morning prayers at assembly in the name of inclusivity has served to move young people ever further from the organised church. It is a sad state of affairs. As someone living in the main diocese of a great cathedral I find it quite ridiculous that to visit for prayer, sitting in reflection or lighting a candle of remembrance I am asked to join a queue of tourists paying £9-£10 each and produce photo id to allow my free entry. The two local parish churches are locked apart from the times of published services, this giving the impression worship or prayer can only occur when the organised church says so. On a visit to St Paul's Cathedral with friends from Australia last year we were asked to pay £25.00 each to enter so £100 for the four of us. This for visiting a building I grew up knowing as East London's main church, head of religion for the region's working classes and which through my working life was often my lunchtime refuge for prayer and peace if work was a bit too hectic. While on that visit a young German lad climbed onto a lectern to have his photograph taken and was reprimanded and spoken to very harshly by a member of staff. My friend went to the boy's defence telling the staff member "hey mate, when you charge so much for entry you've turned your cathedral into a theme park, not a place of worship". Although surprised at this reaction it was suitable food for thought, particularly with over a quarter of Britain's cathedrals now charging substantial entry fees. I'm not quite sure what I feel about these charges now as a result.

A big thank you from me too. As I'm someone who would happily live on a Caribbean island full time, it's been fascinating reading and hearing of your experiences on the islands, particularly the five I've not had the pleasure of visiting so far. I have greatly enjoyed your reports from tours you took, particularly the amusing and witty observations of some of people you've met along the way. I hope you and Lady S have very many happy memories of your great adventure for many years to come.

I hope your partner recovers very soon and is soon back in good health.

Also a word of caution on insurance cover for cancelled shore excursions: most policies have a limit on how much cover they offer for these. It can be quite generous - Staysure top policy offers £1,000 for instance - but with some trips costing well in excess of £150pp nowadays it makes sense to consider this when booking before departure.

There was a huge flare on Sunday and the lights were seen as far down as Cornwall. Yet again they were seen at Stonehenge. The signs are very positive for those joining Aurora.

Not sure if the provided a picture but hopefully this is helpful Incidentally I think Glass House is on the port side as I had an F deck cabin directly above the open area in 2022, if my recollection is correct you are on the other side.

Sad to hear the 507 is no more. As a commuter to Lincoln's Inn from Waterloo for 13 years its big benefit was using the tunnel rather than queuing to get on Aldwych and all the traffic lights. Regarding the trains on Thameslink perhaps alighting at Blackfriars on the south side of the river (ie travel in the rear) might be good for Dave and then it's a quick hop on the bus direct to Waterloo main entrance and up in the lift to the concourse or even a pleasant stroll of around 20 minutes.

I have used Novotel several times and you can walk from the hotel to departures. Used Crowne Plaza once for an event at NEC and they had an airport shuttle. Both of those were nice quality hotels.

That sounds much better and more in line with the response from the CEO's office I had expected. I assume you now have a new cabin number if they've told you where it is. Which cabin have they given you as a matter of interest? Chris Lees is Carnival UK's Executive Vice President so I assume once you found the right route they took it seriously. I'm very pleased for you. I hope that you can put all the stress behind you now and look forward to your cruises.

Unfortunately the underground is also subject to strike action. Currently not many strikes beyond this month apart from Aslef overtime ban.. Do you have National Express coaches from your part of the world? My niece used them from Essex to Southampton for her university as the price was very reasonable. Otherwise you may be able to go direct to Heathrow for the Intercruises coach.

Unfortunately this issue isn't going to be up for debate but it does go a long way to explaining the springing up of this type of question across the forum boards. Unfortunately it is what it is. The problem is the unwary self bookers can so easily fall into the trap, particularly with saver fares. With the push for young families to be the new cruisers it would make a great deal of sense for saver family fares/cabins to not be bookable on line and only by direct telephone calls or via travel agents at least until the website can actually deal properly with the issue. At least the unwary could be in possession of proper information before deciding to part with their money. The young lady is clearly very upset about the situation but all avenues now appear closed which is a sad state of affairs. I must confess I'm surprised at the lack of help and understanding she appears to have received from P&O. Hopefully a solution will be sorted once on board if she decides not to rebook.

I have looked at the video now. Obviously it shows the room with the bunks in use rather than in the folded position. I can confirm I have had one of this type of room on Azura and had the beds as a queen with no issue. Yes there was an overhang but I was able to use either side of the bed and not crawl to the end. This was room P319, in fact it remains one of my favourite rooms allocated on a saver fare and I have booked it subsequently by choice on select. Azura's inside cabins are 15m2 (165ft2) and a quick look shows Britannia's insides as 15-16m2 (165-175ft2) so I cannot see that the set up I had would not work. Incidentally the three cabins you mention in particular C316,317 etc are classed as larger insides and are the 16m2 ones. They are a different shape which gives the size difference. If I recall from one my BIL had when you enter the door the dressing table is to one side and the room opens up for the bed to be on the wall to the other side. They are a higher grade as you said.

The maritime law is correct - I've seen a similar discussion on a DIsney forum as well. If P&O have stated the matter is closed then unfortunately you have little choice. You booked a saver fare where nothing is guaranteed I'm afraid. If they say it can be done I suppose you could ask for that in writing once more and sort it onboard. If however you want certainty it would seem perhaps best to cancel and rebook while the OBC will cover your lost deposit. Short of that I guess it's see what can be done onboard. I appreciate what you say about the bed configuration only it does say very clearly "preferred" and unfortunately that is not a part of your contract but simply as it says a preference. I'm sorry I cannot be more helpful but if it was Executive Office there is nowhere left to go I'm afraid as I doubt it's something ABTA would be interested in.

Which room are they saying can be made into a queen? There may be pictures elsewhere you can look at. The real problem is that you were unaware the Queen bed configuration is just a request and is not guaranteed. Unfortunately it is not like booking a hotel room where you choose double or twin sleeping arrangements (mind you I have trouble with this on occasion too when my friend and I were presented with a queen bed in Rome because they believed we were a couple!). Is this only Britannia, if so what are they doing with Iona booking? I assume the caller is from customer services or was it actually from Executive Office? Why did they say they won't put anything in writing, that seems extremely odd? Did you write as suggested or is this a result of the social media contact?

Agree with this unless you hit a problem like today. Absolutely no trains in and out of Waterloo due to an incident outside Woking. Southampton is a difficult one to find alternatives by train although the Southern service is most direct. The rail strikes are the other problem.

It takes around 45 minutes to an hour by tube. District Line to Earl's Court, change to Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Terminal 2/3 station. It's about 5 minutes from the underground station to the bus station. For step free access (ie if you've a lot of luggage) I'd look at Victoria Line to Green Park and then swapping on to the Piccadilly Line there. I'm unsure where in Kent you travel from, but if you can access a train to get to Farringdon or Bond Street you have the Elizabeth Line option too. I regularly travel from Waterloo to Heathrow via Green Park and it is relatively easy so long as the lifts are all working. There is a fair bit of underground walking. The District Line is less stairs until you make Earl's Court.

Surely depends on the definition of "solo". On a couple of cruises, one on P&O and one on Cunard I have had "singles" on my dinner table who although adults are travelling with and sharing a cabin with their parents for cost reasons. Both of these people were men in their 30's and although technically not alone they liked to attend the solo meet ups as they didn't want to spend every hour in the company of their parents. Neither of these sets of parents required looking after, the arrangements were purely financial to take advantage of special rates on 3rd/4th passengers.

Yes it's peninsular points. If you put it in your basket and view it you will see if there is a discount before check out . Mine came up at £252 and then reduced with my percentage.

I also have £9pp per day showing. When I added it to my basket it also gave me my loyalty discount. Is that not normal then - I've never had one of these before!

So you now have confirmation of the problems as we suspected them to be. Collate and collect all the information, emails, dates of telephone calls etc and rather than relying on the social media channels put the whole lot, from beginning to end, in writing to the email address of the Executive Office emphasising that the whole lot have been a bit of a disaster for you and short of losing yet more money you really need assistance from them as you've booked in good faith on a cruise line advertising themselves very proudly to the young families demographic. In the email express in your strongest terms your disappointment with P&O's handling of the issue, your being a new mum who is finding the whole affair incredibly stressful and you are now beginning to feel P&O do not care about how all this is impacting you. Again the important thing is to stay calm but firm. Aside from the Britannia situation I assume the Iona one is less complicated and they are dealing with it? Even so it hurts nobody to put your experience into writing on that as well. Send to this address. No doubt they will respond 28 days so be prepared to wait. Executive.Correspondence@carnivalukgroup.com You do also have the cancel and rebook option for the balcony although I appreciate that is more expensive. Re drinks package it would be refunded once onboard, annoying but you do get your money refunded.

Try not to get upset, it can and will be sorted. Yes I looked at the three cabins you mention and agree it is a different symbol. I thought it might be a different type of Pullman, some are wall drop (not many on Britannia) and some pull from the ceiling. No harm in checking. I cannot speak for Iona but I'd think the best thing to do is calm down and call P&O today for clarification on the three cabins we have identified as possibly not fixed twin beds. If it transpires that's the case ask if you can move to one. If they say no tell them you have a contact in the Executive Office looking at it (assumedly you have a name?). Ask the agent to contact that person while you are online, or at worse asking them to email that individual urgently. I would ask your questions about Iona whilst on the line - if they insist on not contacting Executive Office except by email use the time to give your contact time to get back to the agent you are speaking to. They aren't going to want to cause distress, particularly as you fit exactly the people they are marketing for. I suggest mentioning that in your conversations. Most important: stay calm, polite, do not get over wraught, don't get angry or raise your tone and don't call them liars. Although frustrated you will gain nothing if you allow it to over spill. Just be logical, calm and polite. Don't be afraid to be firm though and stand your ground on insisting they speak to your contact.

I went to select booking, 2 adults and 1 infant under 24 months. I just put 6 months. Booking availability came up with the following cabins for that set of people: A120, 121, 124, 125 B531, 612, 611 C316, 317, 323 D439 E344, 349, 442, 443 F426, 427 G434, 435 all of these are fixed twin beds. Yes, I can say Queen as my choice when I proceed but the fact is that configuration would be unavailable once onboard in any of the inside cabins I can book for 3 people. The same options also come up if I put in a child over 24 months. You aren't being lied to, yes there are other insides but P&O do not consider them suitable for 3 people only two. Obviously with the baby and the closet area you have slightly more of an argument as to where you place the cot (as happened with the OP) but that is something the P&O team alone will decide. On Iona it will inevitably be worse, sorry, the cabins are smaller and no open wardrobe area so not sure how that one would work.

So you have this problem on two cruises? I note Executive is now on the case so you may well get somewhere via them. They are correct the computer system is not advanced, in fact its downright ancient and on occasion impossible. IT and customer service are not unfortunately P&O's strong point. Under the circumstances with a long time to the cruises it may be worth your while waiting on the reply from Executive Office as they should be in a position to override the computer and sort it out. You may even find yourself with an upgrade to sort the matter. My experience with Executive Office is they do try to help and on occasions are quite generous by way of apology. Have they stated a timeframe?

Britannia inside rooms for 3+ people are clearly marked on the deck plan as fixed beds with Pullman beds either fold down or drop from the ceiling. The problem is the computer counts your baby as a third person and therefore looks at rooms for 3 people. It is pretty dumb but that's how the program is written. I can do a mock booking for 2 adults and it comes up with more cabins without fixed beds. However add a baby or a child and it defaults to the fixed beds/Pullmans. Did you make your initial booking on the telephone with P&O, with a travel agent or doing it on the P&O website yourself? If it was one of the first two the agent should have given you the necessary information about the cabin choice being available with only fixed beds and on that basis you have a good argument. If however you made the reservation online yourself it unfortunately is extremely difficult to say it's P&O's problem as it is for us as the booker to double and triple check what the small print is. For example I made a short notice (withing 6 weeks) booking on Britannia for a deluxe balcony cabin and ended up on deck 15 with permanent shade and huge noise issues until 1.00pm every night. This was my risk choice, no I didn't like it but I did have the benefit of £1,000 saving. Unfortunately bed configuration is confirmed only at room allocation, it isn't a firm thing on a saver fare, it simply indicates your preference. Again another confusion for the unwary.