P&O Australia will require all passengers to be fully vaccinated

[sewgood]

1 hour ago, pully8 said:

Watching some current cruise reviews on PO cruises from Southampton.

Looked very nice.

 

 

I did see one as well on the brand new ship Iona and the cabins looked great especially the bathrooms.

The atrium had a hugh glass window several stories high.

[NSWP]

P&O UK enforce dress codes too, which is good. Jacket and tie in MDR and some lounges/bars on formal night.  

 

Princess on formal nights these days, anything goes, if they are not going to enforce it, get rid of formal nights, like Celebrity has done. Someone on CC was doing a live from Majestic Princess in Alaska a few days go, they reported men in T shirts and shorts getting into MDR on formal night, they had photos.   By jove what would the Cunarders say? 🤣

Edited August 29, 2021 by NSWP

[timtam2]

3 hours ago, pully8 said:

 

Wonder if cruises will require evidence of  booster vaccinations?

By the time, if ever we can leave and cruise, boosters will be required, and what will be available for people over 60? 

 

This is my worry. By the time things supposedly start to reopen in November, many of us over 60 AZ double vaccinated people will need boosters as it will be 4-6 months since our last shot. Other countries are preparing to roll out shot 3 and Australia doesn't have a firm booster plan as yet. 

[Aus Traveller]

31 minutes ago, timtam2 said:

This is my worry. By the time things supposedly start to reopen in November, many of us over 60 AZ double vaccinated people will need boosters as it will be 4-6 months since our last shot. Other countries are preparing to roll out shot 3 and Australia doesn't have a firm booster plan as yet. 

From what I have read, you would need a booster shot earlier if you have a Pfizer vaccination, compared with the AZ. Here in Aust, not many over 60s have had Pfizer.

[pully8]

Yes the maiden voyage mentioned was the one I saw too. 

Really hope the health authorities will tell us the plan for vaccine and boosters, so that we can plan and move on.

Also once the national magic number of optimal vaccines has been achieved,  we can get all our vaccines as we did before from our trusted GP, rather than the current situation. 

Next challenge will be having an international recognised format to validate vaccine status.

some are having issues here with matching vaccine paper records not matching digital ones and difficulty linking medicare records with mygov.

Those yellow booklets for vaccines and travel worked well for decades.  

 

[subaru94]

On 8/28/2021 at 9:14 AM, SinbadThePorter said:

 

I've put $1 deposit down on an August cruise in that hope.

 

I don't know why people have a set against P&O. I've tried several cruise lines and the only major fault P&O had compared to the others was the quality of the food in the buffet. Which you can mostly get around by dining in the MDR,  Dragon Lady or Angelos.

 

Now that they have the former Star Princess and Golden Princess I reckon they are worth a go.

I agree with you, we have been on the Golden Princess and really like the layout so looking forward to going on her when she becomes Encounter.  The entertainment on board P&O is great, we went on a short cruise out of Adelaide and found the staff and entertainment amazing.

[subaru94]

On 8/29/2021 at 3:37 PM, Aus Traveller said:

From what I have read, you would need a booster shot earlier if you have a Pfizer vaccination, compared with the AZ. Here in Aust, not many over 60s have had Pfizer.

I wonder if you have to have a booster shot of the original vaccine or can have any option?

[Snoopkat]

On 8/29/2021 at 2:15 PM, sewgood said:

I did see one as well on the brand new ship Iona and the cabins looked great especially the bathrooms.

The atrium had a hugh glass window several stories high.

I subscribe to Cruise with Ben and David on YouTube and they did a recent review of Iona and it's absolutely gorgeous. I've been following the progress of the Pacific Adventure fitout and while some of the design is not to my personal taste, I'm still looking forward and hoping to sail her in March, though it's looking more and more unlikely with the official cruise pause being extended to 17 Dec. I think as someone who is new to cruising, the very first surprise for me will be the scale of the ship because it's not really something I can picture right now.

[Aus Traveller]

38 minutes ago, subaru94 said:

I wonder if you have to have a booster shot of the original vaccine or can have any option?

There was a suggestion that people who have the AZ would have a booster of an mRNA vaccine - maybe Pfizer or Moderna. People who have Pfizer as their first shot might need something else because research in Israel indicates that Pfizer give limited protection after six months.

[NSWP]

45 minutes ago, Snoopkat said:

I subscribe to Cruise with Ben and David on YouTube and they did a recent review of Iona and it's absolutely gorgeous. I've been following the progress of the Pacific Adventure fitout and while some of the design is not to my personal taste, I'm still looking forward and hoping to sail her in March, though it's looking more and more unlikely with the official cruise pause being extended to 17 Dec. I think as someone who is new to cruising, the very first surprise for me will be the scale of the ship because it's not really something I can picture right now.

Yes the Iona is nice.  Having travelled on both P&O UK and P&O Straya, I can advise everyone that they are absolutely different products.  P&O UK is on a par with a good Princess ship and P&O Straya, well no comment, I don't want the P&O Aus people after me, throwing their XXXX stubbies, thongs and god knows what else at me😆

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by NSWP

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, Snoopkat said:

I subscribe to Cruise with Ben and David on YouTube and they did a recent review of Iona and it's absolutely gorgeous. I've been following the progress of the Pacific Adventure fitout and while some of the design is not to my personal taste, I'm still looking forward and hoping to sail her in March, though it's looking more and more unlikely with the official cruise pause being extended to 17 Dec. I think as someone who is new to cruising, the very first surprise for me will be the scale of the ship because it's not really something I can picture right now.

The ship will seem bigger than you expect and the cabins will seem smaller.😁

[Snoopkat]

32 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The ship will seem bigger than you expect and the cabins will seem smaller.😁

Apparently the pools are also tiny IRL. Another thing that will be weird for me is being able to carry your drink around wherever you go, except the pool. Though not sure if it's allowed on P&O.

[SinbadThePorter]

Until 14th Sept, P&O are offering extra OBC to go along with their $1 deposits.

 

2 – 6 nights, Insides/Windows $100 per room, Balcony Suites $200per room

7 – 11 nights, Inside/Windows $200 per room, Balcony/Suites $400 per room

12+ nights, Inside/Windows $300 per room, Balcony/Suites $600 per room

[SinbadThePorter]

Just now, Snoopkat said:

Apparently the pools are also tiny IRL

 

That's because the pools are on top of the ship and water is very heavy.

 

1 minute ago, Snoopkat said:

being able to carry your drink around wherever you go, except the pool.

 

There are bars at the pool, the drinks come in plastic glasses.

[Snoopkat]

2 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

Until 14th Sept, P&O are offering extra OBC to go along with their $1 deposits.

 

2 – 6 nights, Insides/Windows $100 per room, Balcony Suites $200per room

 

Is this $200 on top of the original $200 they offered when the $1 deposit sale first started?

[SinbadThePorter]

12 minutes ago, Snoopkat said:

Is this $200 on top of the original $200 they offered when the $1 deposit sale first started?

 

I'm not sure. Did you get $200 OBC or $100 OBC when you booked? As far as I can tell for a suite less than 6 nights it should have originally been $100. The extra OBC offer started 1st Sept.

 

https://www.pocruises.com.au/campaigns/go-for-gold-sale

 

If so, you need to ring them up and they will cancel your original booking and rebook with everything the same. You also lose the original $1. 😪

Edited September 3, 2021 by SinbadThePorter

[Snoopkat]

We originally got $200 as we're booked in a suite. Just got off the phone with my TA and it looks like it was the same offer as when we first booked so no extra OBC on top of what we already got. Maybe they just extended the sale, I can't remember when it was supposed to finish. I'll also find out in a couple of weeks whether the 2nd deposit is still due in Oct or if that will get pushed back. 

[SinbadThePorter]

11 minutes ago, Snoopkat said:

We originally got $200 as we're booked in a suite. Just got off the phone with my TA and it looks like it was the same offer as when we first booked so no extra OBC on top of what we already got.

 

Don't forget to keep an eye on the cruise up until payments, and if it drops in price to rebook it.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Snoopkat said:

Apparently the pools are also tiny IRL. Another thing that will be weird for me is being able to carry your drink around wherever you go, except the pool. Though not sure if it's allowed on P&O.

Yes, the pools are really, really tiny. 

 

If you get a drink from a poolside bar it will be in a plastic glass so it can be carried anywhere, but anything in glass itself can't be taken poolside. However be careful what drinks you carry around, ships do have a tendency to move in unexpected ways at times so drinks can easily spill. One of my favourite evening dresses got ruined by someone accidentally splashing their drink on it. It's best not to start moving around until there is little likelihood of the drink splashing.  

[Porky55]

22 hours ago, subaru94 said:

I agree with you, we have been on the Golden Princess and really like the layout so looking forward to going on her when she becomes Encounter.  The entertainment on board P&O is great, we went on a short cruise out of Adelaide and found the staff and entertainment amazing.

Just so you know - Pacific Encounter was Star Princess and Pacific Adventure was Golden Princess - though as I understand it, not much difference between both ships. 
And Pacific Explorer was Dawn Princess 😁

Edited September 3, 2021 by Porky55

[MicCanberra]

I rarely use the pools, and definitely don't use the hot tubs on most ships. Generally, we rarely even go near the pool area unless  passing through  from front to rear or vica versa

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I rarely use the pools, and definitely don't use the hot tubs on most ships. Generally, we rarely even go near the pool area unless  passing through  from front to rear or vica versa

Same here, I get ear infection easily, particularly on the ships, so stay away from the hot tubs/spas and often the pools. Ships Drs told me to avoid them, full of bacteria he said. Some pax use the hot tubs as their daily bath.

[MicCanberra]

When I do swim in public pools, I never put my head under the water.

[mr walker]

21 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The ship will seem bigger than you expect and the cabins will seem smaller.😁

That was definitely our first reaction when boarding Rhapsody OTS on our very first cruise in 2011. This is a relatively small ship by todays standards. Couldn't believe how big the ship was, inside & out nor how they fitted an IBIS hotel into the ship 🙂 

[Snoopkat]

On 9/3/2021 at 3:52 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, the pools are really, really tiny. 

 

If you get a drink from a poolside bar it will be in a plastic glass so it can be carried anywhere, but anything in glass itself can't be taken poolside. However be careful what drinks you carry around, ships do have a tendency to move in unexpected ways at times so drinks can easily spill. One of my favourite evening dresses got ruined by someone accidentally splashing their drink on it. It's best not to start moving around until there is little likelihood of the drink splashing.  

Oh dear, sorry to hear about your dress. I'm always worried about spillage when I'm carrying drinks and would hate to be that person.  I might just stay put at the bar like I normally do on land for everyone's sake!