Megabear2

Out of interest I've looked earlier today at the "from" prices on every P&O cruise 2024/5 cruise from Southampton between April and October and every 14 night fly cruise with a Barbados departure. This is cruises of every length and based on either an Early Saver or Late Saver. Without actually going into each cruise I noticed only the October transatlantic crossings next year can offer a balcony at less than £100pp a night. There are a handful around £125pp but the remainder are higher with £134 and £150 appearing to be the most common. Some of the 7 night Arvia Caribbean offerings have a price tag of over £240pp. I'm aware a lot of posters on here have personal budgets pp per night - I do not as I book for reasons other than price and therefore have no rule of thumb to compare. However these prices, and don't forget they are starting prices as at today so could be leftovers or fairly new, seem higher than I've seen this year.

Never said people on here were only that the cruise lines are relying on those booking being naive in seeing a headline price. However you can have the last word because this simply isn't worth my time anymore.

I understood this to be a general discussion not me or anyone making definitive statements. I was simply offering as others have done examples of fare types. I would have thought the type of people who read this forum are more than able to make their own mind up on whether prices have risen or fallen. However the 20% rise I mentioned was actually the figure mentioned by Paul Ludlow in an article with a travel agent publication as the price rise that was expected to be in line with Carnival creditor's expectations. You'll note I mentioned with an explanation mark the rise quoted by CC (which is the one in Time Out), that was intended to indicate I thought the statement somewhat extreme.

Which is exactly the point I was making. Price perception, whether high or low, is a personal matter. There are those on here who do not accept that the P&O product is anything other than the cheapest on the market and as a result shout down anyone who says they found a better deal on another line. As you say, on many occasions with research and flexibility it is relatively easy to find an excellent deal on virtually any line. The point of my post was that it is not necessarily the case that the P&O price is superior to any other, in particular the challenges to people such as Glitterati on the cost of their Celebrity cruises. Perception, well that's again down to when and how the individual wants to cruise. Of course a £499 7 night cruise looks and is indeed brilliant pricing but as many will be disbarred from being able to take it due to date restrictions it isn't really a typical offering. Advertising 7 night holidays from ... as cruise lines do is a great way to entice people in, the reality however is often totally different.

I'm cruising the Caribbean with Celebrity over Christmas as a replacement for an Arvia booking made on release, my Celebrity booking was made in March this year. The Celebrity booking was made during several offers but is 13 nights on Beyond, flight provided by Celebrity air (I picked an American Airlines direct to Miami but had a lot of choices including premium and Virgin/BA flights). The offer I booked had premium drinks, wifi, gratuities and speciality dining x 4 included. There was also an offer of 75% off 2nd passenger. The headline price was high, however after adding on 2 night stay in Fort Lauderdale (again our choice) the whole package for an infinity balcony came in at £6,893 for two. The Arvia cancelled cruise departing 22/12 in an overlooked curve balcony was to cost £7,100 (OBC £500). This cruise however was changed to Britannia departure on 13/1 and became a deluxe balcony, premium economy package at a cost of £7,300 (OBC £620). Personally I'd say not much between all three offerings price wise but clearly the Celebrity offering is all inclusive whereas even with the OBC the P&O offerings aren't. The pricing of any cruise in any category is very much a case of hitting the "sweet spot" and with every line it is impossible to actually say "x" or "y" is better priced. A great many of the special offers are very much out of season - a lot of the cheap prices people are offering are either early season or late. There's nothing wrong with that and great offers are there. However much of it is luck when you move away from the headline prices. Selbourne's wonderful offer on his 65 night cruise is one of those cases. That cruise and fare lasted literally a couple of days as people snapped it up. Another example was the Princess Canadian/US cruise in September, again not selling so well so some crazy pricing for a week or two. Then we had the "fire sale" solo fares from P&O on the 21 night Icelandic cruises and the other unexpected solo fares on Aurora which became a talking point earlier this year. Overall prices are pretty stable across all lines. If we are lucky enough to hit the right time we can all say our experience is for "x" to be cheap. The truth is across an entire season the market has this year increased the cost of trips by an average 20% minimum. Research by CC shows an increase of 43% for 2023! No one line, including P&O, have not raised prices or made cuts to their offering. Clever marketing and the lucky ones who've bagged a bargain can and will make people think cruises haven't risen in price which is naive but just what the lines want. Yes there are definitely bargains and cruising remains great value but ... https://www.timeout.com/usa/news/its-official-cruises-are-more-expensive-than-everheres-why-101623

Allowing for traffic SoBe is about 20 minutes by car, its 5 miles to the end or about 7 to Lincoln. The paved boardwalk starts near Lincoln which is technically Miami Beach and probably if you want to see both a good starting point. Once you hit Miami Beach proper there are numerous hotels with gates out on to the promenade which narrows and is more rough terrain. You can't see the street just the hotel rears at this point. I doubt they'll mind the Dad Bod, why not give the free workout a go? They even have personal trainers on hand for a small fee. Do watch out for the rollerbladers, some of them haven’t a clue and they verge on inept to downright dangerous. Or how about a quick try out for beach volleyball or a boxing class? All on offer. The rescue beach huts are works of art, everyone different colours. SoBe is great for people watching. I have a soft spot for The News Cafe for that as I was at the opening in 1988. https://newscafesouthbeach.com/

Sorry Selbourne, I've only ever arrived/departed with RC and MSC. With RC we took a bus out of the terminal to Fort Lauderdale which was free. MSC used to use Terminal F which I believe is now under Carnival having been adapted for their new megaships and I recall it being fairly easy to get from there to Downtown. I do not recall any bus from there - the port being so busy and huge has transport connections of its own. You should by definition be nearer to the exit to Bayside. The link below may help, I think it's been updated to reflect the new terminals of recent years, I last went in December 2020 although I'm there over Christmas but you’ll have sailed by the time I'm back. I'll try to scan the situation- we are on Celebrity so in a total different port area. If it was me, I'd go to the SoBo area in the morning if you want to see it and then to see the Art Deco district, museum etc, possibly have an early lunch and then head back to the Bayside. The Beach is huge, and the walk by it quite stimulating. I assume you wouldn't want to go and sit on it though and a lot of it is taken by private areas for the big hotels when it becomes Miami Beach. It is by no means cheap either, lovely to look at. Path does however offer nice views of some of the older art Deco hotels which are mainly now renovated- when I first started going there in 1988 they were wrecks being pulled down. Bayside is relatively near the ship and if Lady Selbourne needs a rest it is ideal for coming back out later. https://www.miamidade.gov/portmiami/directions-transportation.asp https://www.miamibeachfl.gov/city-hall/transportation/trolley/customer-rights/#:~:text=Accessibility%3A,provided to all Trolley passengers.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/cruise-devaluations-higher-fees-less-service/ It's everywhere. This is the American point of view, but same observations.

You should dock at the Carnival terminals, either D or E. The port is actually in Biscayne Bay and the highways you refer to are links to the bridges to the "bars" which form the basically recovered land which developed over the years to Miami Beach (Art Deco District/Collins Avenue). I've only ever arrived/departed Miami on MSC or RC but the terminals are all very modern and accessible. The ones I've used are busy and well organised. As this isn't I believe your first US port there shouldn't be any problems with security which is a relief. The nearest centres to the port are Bayside Marketplace - about a 25 minute walk or taxi or bus. This is quite a busy modern area offering restaurants and shopping. Brickell is nearby with high end shopping and more upmarket restaurants. If intending to dine at anything other than the more chain like restaurants it is best to book online as higher end dining is difficult to access without reservations, particularly in peak times. Downtown Miami can be found slightly further on. It's very colourful, still under renovation and some may be put off by that. It does however offer lots of history and if you are seeking things other than sun and sand offers a huge variety. The Perez Art museum, Observation Deck at the Miami Tower and the ferris wheel are good to visit, as is Bayside Park. These are the nearest things to the port. You can also go to Key Biscayne fairly easily- the free Miami tram will take you most places. Miami City centre is distinct from Miami Beach, two totally different animals. Miami Beach and South Beach (SoBe) is best reached by a taxi or the trolley if you're more adventurous. There is a long beach promenade lying behind the hotels directly next to the beach. Some areas have open grass areas where you can see people exercising to be the body beautiful. On the other side of the hotels the main strip along the road allows you to walk on a pavement where there are lots of bars. There are some art deco hotels and buildings along here but if you wish to see the main art deco area move one street behind to Collins Avenue where the bulk of the surviving buildings from the era can be found. Lincoln Road lies between Miami Beach and SoBe and offers a broad open air shopping mall designed with art deco buildings. Personally I find it a bit over rated and the cafes/bars expensive but it is an interesting experience - very popular for breakfast with the worse the wear revellers from the nightclubs! As I said, my experience with the port is limited to other terminals so apart from saying the accessibility is very good I cannot comment. Most of my Miami trips are land based accompanied by my friends who now live in Palm Beach having relocated there from Miami as they now find it too busy. Not knowing when/if you've visited before I would say in the past 10 years or so it has exploded into a typical US mega city and the Cuban influence in particular makes it exceptionally different. The Spanish language is very predominant in certain areas which can come as a surprise. Hope that helps.

That's interesting. I looked at them for variety of ports in 2025 and considering they are all inclusive found the price comparable with what our January cruise has cost. The problem with P&O nowadays is no variety in their port itinerary in the Caribbean and when you travel the area often you get to feel you need a change. Looking at itineraries going forward the only change is Bonaire swaps with Aruba occasionally.

Marella go there regularly on their 14 night fly cruises. I think I also saw MSC in 2025 calling.

The 24 night Aurora Caribbean and 35 night Ventura cruises in 2024 and 2025 are visiting Guadeloupe. Prior to pandemic when the itineraries changed every year Azura called there. Unfortunately the itineraries don't appear to change for variety since 2019.

How far in advance do they go? I'm aware from the Cunard forum that people are piecing together 2026 itineraries but most ports I look at for P&O ships have the usual blanks.

I have one of these on my Cunard voyage in January 2025. It advertises as "overnight" and offers the following: 26 Jan 2025 - 27 Jan 2025 Arrives Early morning Departs Early evening That seems a definite guide to having a full overnight, whereas yours looks a lot like any time after 00:01 would technically be correct.

Thanks for the info. It has been confirmed by both P&O and Cunard that there will be no step test on any of our cruises save the one all passengers take on leaving the ship. We did in fact receive a confirmation from higher up the chain that this was mistakenly told to us as only those who use walking sticks full time and have notified of needing one to one assistance would be asked to do this if thought necessary by crew. As I have stated on the forms the nature and circumstances of the illnesses my husband has the medical advisers were at a loss as to why we were told such an individual requirement had been told to us. I repeat for your benefit that taking a step test was not the problem, it was being singled out that caused the upset. My husband is extremely sensitive about his illnesses and mentally he gets very stressed at even having to mention them. His main illness is totally invisible and as a consequence he did not want me to mention it but me being me thought it wise to do so. For the stress and upset it has caused I am seriously considering never mentioning it again, particularly as at one point they were insisting we had assistance at the airport as well. Ironically in an emergency I'd rely very much on him for assistance as I'm pretty useless on stairs myself.

Sorry to revive an older thread. I am looking to book one of the Caribbean 35 night cruises in 20245 - either January or March. My travel agent has offered a special deal on a sheltered balcony with all grades tte same price. As transatlantic in winter will be involved this seems a good option? Regarding position and deck are there any preferences to bear in mind when choosing? I am very familiar with the Queen but have never sailed in a sheltered balcony. I will be accompanied by my husband who has never sailed on Queen Mary 2, his only Cunard trip being on Queen Elizabeth and in September next year on Queen Anne. Budget is a consideration in our choice - we have also been offered an obstructed view with automatic upgrade to the top grade sheltered. Thank you.

I'd say yes you will need to. Certainly they made us do one for each cruise despite our submitting the old paper version and reading Terrierjohn's post he too has filled them in on line a second time. Incidentally a highly regarded travel agent many on here use just booked a couple of Cunard and P&O cruises for me and they insisted I gave them details over the phone at time of booking despite my saying I'd do them myself online. I was told they would not make the booking without my stating one to one assistance minimum with the occasional use walking stick.

I ended up filling in 3 forms for each cruise! After a lot of discussions and argument I received this: Good morning X Thank you for your email. We have received the On Board Needs questionnaire for Mr X, and this has been recorded against the above booking. Should any requirements change prior to sailing please do let us know. We look forward to welcoming you on board. Kind regards Megan Guest Support Representative Accessibility" Your guess is as good as mine.

Rc had cruises departing Barbados a while back. The Americans hated them, didn't like the airport and immigration rules apparently. It was during the pandemic but they were very unpopular on the forum over there.

Never mind Arvia, it's been that way since Ventura and then Azura and Britannia! Airport Expansion is planned into the Concorde Experience, perhaps P&O could fly everyone home on that!

That's pretty standard then.

Munich airport reopened 6.00am this morning and playing catch up. My friends live in the centre and today are going to the Christmas market and ice skating. If that was the UK with an inch of snow it would be shut for a week!

Assuming it's based on the technical issue the compensation will be £520pp, so certainly not to be sniffed at.

How delayed were the TUI flights? Assumedly some were weather related but for them all to be delayed seems rather odd.

Is this visiting the gardens before the visit to the village where most of the scenes are shot? If so that from my recollection is where the bumpy and hilly ground was. However I did the tour back in 2017 so it may have changed. I do recall the actual place where filming takes place as being very small - one street - and although the buildings etc were recognisable the signs had not been put out for our trip. Regarding the beach, if you mean the one where the shack is it is lovely but be aware the shack is dismantled when they aren't filming.