Megabear2

Well there are apparently over 100 on Arvia so you never know you might find out. If the ship is full no one can move, you're stuck with it. During my fiasco the cabin steward and deck manager didn't need telling of the problems. They knew already from the previous cruises and were actually waiting for me when I came out if my cabin. They could do nothing with the best will in world. If the ship is full, that's it.

I totally agree. Never able to access lifts on disembarkation day due to every lift being rammed with people with large suitcases. We encounter the "you should walk" brigade on every P&O cruise which is nigh on impossible for a man with fibromyalgia, ME and a myocardial bridge! The hidden disabilities lanyard holds no sway with these guys, so goodness knows how a wheelchair user gets on. We used to try to go up for breakfast in the buffet but the strain over getting two lifts quite simply became too much. Now we skip breakfast, full stop. I simply do not believe Jean has never encountered lifts where they see wheelchair users etc unable to get in.

I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves, in fact I think even if you absolutely hated aspects of it you'd have a wonderful time. I wasn't suggesting you won't merely pointing out that on a 35 night cruise the whole affair will be a different vibe. The long cruises are calmer, more laid back. To give you an idea there are a large number of contributors to this forum on that cruise so a lot of them are the very people you're banishing!

Well I cannot think of anything worse than being forced to only travel on adults only ships and as a 68 year old assume you are telling me that's where I belong! There's also the cost, not every pensioner has pots of disposable cash but with your thinking they aren't going to be catered for on non adult only ships - entertainment etc. You tell me constantly your very budget conscious is that now only exclusive to your age group and below then? Iona and Arvia are multi generational. They need entertainment for all age groups. You seem to be living some pipe dream that your younger generation are going to fill these ships on their own which is complete garbage. If you actually make it to Iona for 35 nights you just might be in for a shock.

One swallow doesn't make a summer though ... the problem seems to be you overthink everything when it comes to cruising. That lady's had her experiences but they aren’t reflective of everyone else who may have sailed those two ships. Everyone is different, every crowd is different, every group of passengers is different ... you can't put people in pigeon holes because it simply isn't possible. Age, like everything is not relevant. If you try to stop overthinking what your fellow guests are experiencing you might actually find it is quite simple. Everyone wants FUN but in their own way.

Is this Arvia Caribbean? If so which date.

I believe it's to try to prevent partisan arguments. We had a lot on our last Britannia cruise which coincided with the World Cup final and the boxing day fixtures. Unfortunately some very inebriated people in the face of others (me included) and picking arguments. I am a very passionate football fan but most of the pubs and bars I frequent in central London away from the immediate ground areas have a ban on football shirts just for that reason.

The problem is they also say further down the page. Talk about confusing Evening Dining dress codes For our non-formal evenings, we have an Evening Casual dress code. Smart-casual is best - we recommend dark denim, trousers, skirts, shirts, or dresses. No tracksuits, football shirts or trainers please.

Yes, she's on Britannia.

My friend sails on 30 December and still nothing there either!

There's usually a list in the main menu but I always ask the sommelier and he/she produces tye correct page. Generally they are at the back, never had a cruise on Cunard where there hasn't been any.

The bin ends are always good value too. We have had some superb wines that way.

I was indeed above the club house. It was an upgrade despite my stating jo upgrades and I was told take it or leave it.

I'm delighted you aren't considering cancelling based on others experiences. I get very nervous of mentioning my experience since at the time I received comments that upset me greatly and was accused of making people cancel, it was a horrendous personal experience made worse. I hope you have a great New Year cruise.

I can confirm my deck 9 aft small balcony was horrendous and the noise unfortunately on occasion did not end until 1.00am. I was not alone with the complaint, witnessing very many people complaining vociferously including a family who went in their pyjamas complete with their children to stand in reception at 12.45am. They were lucky as a cabin was found for them the next morning. My battle continued for four days and at one point I was going to leave the ship at the second port when my promised move did not materialise. Eventually on the fourth day I was moved at 11.00pm to an inside cabin 9n deck 4 forward which was thankfully quiet. During in my many meetings with managers and staff I was told there are over 100 cabins onboard Arvia which have noise issues ranging from niggling to totally unacceptable. Certainly I could not live with the noise but obviously that is a personal thing. I will add my complaint on return was dealt with exceptionally well by P&O but I do think that was most likely to the fact the voyage in question had numerous problems (not all noise related but disorganisation with shuttles etc) that were not handled at all well onboard. What I would say is if you are someone who is out and about late you lost likely would be in a different situation to myself. I am particularly noise sensitive and spend a fair amount of time in my cabin and on the balcony and also retire relatively early. Sandancer regarding your September cruise could you perhaps consider moving your cabin rather than cancelling? You may find you are fine with the location as you stated you had no issues previously. It may not be wise to cancel based on others experiences and also I found it very upsetting to deal with people suggesting my experience was causing them to do that. I do however believe people should be aware there may be potential noise issues but we are all different and have different tolerances.

It was a genuine question. I'm a fairly new arrival to P&O compared with many on here, only since 2009. All my cruises prior to that were on Cunard so I've always taken the wine list as the norm so to speak. I had thought that prior to the "modern" P&O perhaps they too had wine lists like the one posted. We sail on Celebrity next week and they claim in their blurb 300 wines although I've not seen the list as we aren't that into wine and on this occasion have the benefit of a free drinks package so will be drinking by the glass. It will be interesting.

The question probably should be when did P&O offer, if ever, a 50 page wine list? I notice the Indian wines still on the Cunard list including one I had the pleasure of trying in the Glass House on Britannia in 2021. Unfortunately come 2022 and the much reduced offerings even there it was sadly no longer available. Even if I do not want to pay for it personally I welcome the vast choice.

My mum's cousin worked for Telfers in their factory in Bow. I recall my dad asking her what her job entailed and her replying she had to stuff the meat in a big hole at the rear!

Good morning. Thank you all for the help on the Warners breaks. I have now booked my friends in for a 4 day break in June for something described as an "Explore Break". From all your kind help I'm sure they will love it. Very busy day yesterday organising the last Christmas present and then a quick dash up to Essex for my niece's first birthday. How time rushes on, seems impossible it's a year since we were sitting at Gatwick flying out to join Britannia when she decided to come into the world. All the excitement of boarding and rushing to activate our Internet to learn if she was here yet to be greeted by her first photograph, and there she was yesterday literally running around with her slightly older cousin. We learned yesterday we have another niece or nephew on the way as well, arriving in July. We had three weddings in close succession in 2022 and now have two little ones here already from those couples with a third arrival expected. Amongst all the sadness and turmoil it is so lovely to hear such good news and gives hope for us all. We are having our "staff" Christmas lunch today. Every year we take our cleaner, gardner and helpful odd job man and their respective families for a lunch at our local pub, always a really festive do. Last year our local had closed down as the owners had gone into administration, however it reopened in the summer and is apparently thriving. It will be interesting to revisit. Tomorrow will be the frantic packing ready to head to Gatwick on Wednesday for the flight to Florida, I'm totally unorganised this time round but thankfully we don't need too much posh stuff as the worst will be stuff to dress to impress one evening. Looking forward to the two days in FLL before we board as we catch up with my friends. Ellie got 6 votes from us too ...

Help please, all you Warner officianados! Looking at the Somerset Cricket St Thomas hotel as a Christmas present for my two very dear friends who are aged 74 and 76. The lady has unfortunately been very poorly this year with a mystery illness the hospital are unable to track down. I picked it as somewhere relatively easy to get to by train from here - direct train to Crewkerne apparently. I believe it's a short taxi from there but does anyone have any idea? Also the packages seem to offer b&b, entertainment etc. As they will most likely just wander the grounds is it possible to buy other snacks, lunch etc on site? I have a choice of 4 day breaks, one of them seems to include a day out to Lyme Regis if I'm reading it right, if so does anyone know do Warners provide the transport? I can see 2 headline acts mentioned which is great, what happens on the other nights, ie is there entertainment or anything? Basically if anyone can offer information I'd be much obliged. I hope it will be something they can look forward to later in the year. They are pretty easy to please, not ones for posh just something nice, do you think it might suit? Thank you all.

With the introduction of Starlink on cruise ships and very positive reviews of the performance in cabins, I'd hope that the cruise lines would introduce rules that prevent passengers making long Facetime, Zoom or whatever calls at least in public indoor areas. The old excuse of bad connection whilst at sea would appear to be no more - even on QM2 mid Atlantic reports are of fast and efficient connection. ICF, the relevance of this in particular is because of the actual structure of the ship on top of the obvious one of no nearby land to bounce signals off. That used to mean more or less blackout on those voyages. There would now be no need to not use your cabin so I cannot see any way that valuable public space needs to be handed over on the off chance a few if us need to call or make some business zooms etc. Normal telephone conversations while at sea are generally restricted by the cost of onboard telephone costs. If someone wishes to make these calls generally they do so from the open decks whilst in port purely to ensure they are not connected to the onboard phone system.

That sounds lovely. I wonder if it's to do with the Geminid meteor showers last night. This from our local BBC website showing my neighbour yesterday.

Lightbulb moment - perhaps P&O could employ some of these new style WFH cruisers to alleviate the staff shortages in Southampton. Cheap accommodation, food ... it sounds quite appealing, I might even apply.

Is anyone else experiencing an incredible sunset today? Just been driving back from collecting the OH's new dinner suit in Southampton and witnessed incredible red skies most of the way home. Best bit was seeing the Queen Mary 2 bathed in some sort of ethereal glow and actually appearing to radiate, presumably because of her new paint job. Unfortunately because of being alone and driving I couldn't take any pictures but the sky colours were astonishing.

My OH and I do not send cards, however the cat does! The first Christmas after he arrived we made some personalised cards made to let our family and friends know he'd arrived, not realising it would start a trend. Year two we were going away at Christmas so thought we'd go electronic. Sudden outraged protests on my husband's social media as apparently no one cared about us but what about the DFC - the cat's full name is RAF based and DFC is "Distinguished Feline Companion"! Last minute Vistaprint order, lesson learnt and gulp 80 cards every year. Here's this year's offering, sorry about the glare.