mondas42 Posted September 21, 2021 Author #26 Share Posted September 21, 2021 1 minute ago, wowzz said: No Brainer - balcony everytime. Why go all the way to the Carribean and not have a balcony to enjoy ? Given the reduction in flights, I'm somewhat surprised that there is any availability at all ! Well there seems to be, or at least they are still taking booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted September 21, 2021 #27 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Just now, mondas42 said: Well there seems to be, or at least they are still taking booking. I totally accept that there must be availability, but as you know, they cancelled all flights to St Lucia, so that leaves a greatly reduced number of seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mondas42 Posted September 24, 2021 Author #28 Share Posted September 24, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 10:40 PM, wowzz said: I totally accept that there must be availability, but as you know, they cancelled all flights to St Lucia, so that leaves a greatly reduced number of seats. Well we booked it, 14th January 2022, Britannia, flights from Manchester on a TUI charter flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted September 24, 2021 #29 Share Posted September 24, 2021 (edited) 20 minutes ago, mondas42 said: Well we booked it, 14th January 2022, Britannia, flights from Manchester on a TUI charter flight. Excellent - I'm sure you will have a great time ! Out of interest, did you go for a balcony? Edited September 24, 2021 by wowzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mondas42 Posted September 24, 2021 Author #30 Share Posted September 24, 2021 13 minutes ago, wowzz said: Excellent - I'm sure you will have a great time ! Out of interest, did you go for a balcony? Yes, we paid for a obstructed balcony but picked room G420, which looks out onto The Glass House and is isn’t obstructed, despite been labelled as such. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted September 24, 2021 #31 Share Posted September 24, 2021 22 minutes ago, mondas42 said: Yes, we paid for a obstructed balcony but picked room G420, which looks out onto The Glass House and is isn’t obstructed, despite been labelled as such. Excellent- hopefully you won't regret it. Perhaps you could report back and let us know your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMichelle Posted September 25, 2021 #32 Share Posted September 25, 2021 10 hours ago, mondas42 said: Yes, we paid for a obstructed balcony but picked room G420, which looks out onto The Glass House and is isn’t obstructed, despite been labelled as such. Good choice, these cabins only have obstructions below and down the sides, but a completely clear view straight ahead. Nothing that would bother most people, but that's apparently why they are graded as obstructed. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisemeister2002 Posted October 3, 2021 #33 Share Posted October 3, 2021 On 9/17/2021 at 11:46 PM, mondas42 said: We have cruised with p&o a number of times but we haven’t had a holiday in over 2 years cos of the pandemic. I’m shattered and was thinking of booking a Caribbean cruise in the new year to recharge the batteries. However I’ve just seen a load of very poor reviews for the customer service with p&o recently, not something we have encountered in the past. This has made me wonder if I should book with p&o or wait for things to improve? Any advice? Hi, I'm a great believer in how you view a cruise. Whilst it's nice to be able to access other peoples opinion on their experiences onboard whatever P&O ship they sail we all like different things. I started cruising in 2002 mostly on P&O and I would be the first to admit things have changed quite a bit. When I first cruised onboard Victoria you received toiletries in a nice P&O bag. If you didn't want something on the menu you could ask for a steak, now it's on the menu, but not as good. If you want a decent steak you have to pay extra at a Speciality Restuarant. Drinking chocolate was served late evening with a supper. Tours of The Bridge and Galley were free. The upside of todays cruises are the quality of ships, grab and go and burgers, fish and chips and pizzas available. I guess we have moved on somewhat. I personally prefered the old style cruising. But reviews will tell you 33% didn't like the cruise 33% thought it was acceptable and 33% thought it great. The other 1% spent the cruise at the bar and couldn't care less. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #34 Share Posted October 4, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 10:21 PM, mondas42 said: Not offended at all, everyone is entitled to their view. Been busy looking up deals on various online TA’s hoping to book 14 nights in January on Britannia in the Caribbean. Just trying to decide on large inside vs obstructed balcony and if it’s worth the grand and a bit more. In the unlikely event you have to quarantine in the cabin due to Covid for yourself or others on board I think having a balcony might be more valuable than ever Normally we would never consider the extra cost. But it's hard to imagine how unpleasant it might be quarantining in an inside cabin. This all assumes you are allowed to use the. Balcony still if you are ever asked to stay in cabins on a cruise ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #35 Share Posted October 4, 2021 20 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said: Hi, I'm a great believer in how you view a cruise. Whilst it's nice to be able to access other peoples opinion on their experiences onboard whatever P&O ship they sail we all like different things. I started cruising in 2002 mostly on P&O and I would be the first to admit things have changed quite a bit. When I first cruised onboard Victoria you received toiletries in a nice P&O bag. If you didn't want something on the menu you could ask for a steak, now it's on the menu, but not as good. If you want a decent steak you have to pay extra at a Speciality Restuarant. Drinking chocolate was served late evening with a supper. Tours of The Bridge and Galley were free. The upside of todays cruises are the quality of ships, grab and go and burgers, fish and chips and pizzas available. I guess we have moved on somewhat. I personally prefered the old style cruising. But reviews will tell you 33% didn't like the cruise 33% thought it was acceptable and 33% thought it great. The other 1% spent the cruise at the bar and couldn't care less. All true The one thing I will say is cruises on P and O are better value for money than ever compared to a non cruise holiday You simply cannot beat what you get on a P and O Cruise for your money compared to a normal flight and hotel holiday now And we all have the option of spending more on board for extras and higher end dining if we want 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billish Posted October 4, 2021 #36 Share Posted October 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said: In the unlikely event you have to quarantine in the cabin due to Covid for yourself or others on board I think having a balcony might be more valuable than ever Normally we would never consider the extra cost. But it's hard to imagine how unpleasant it might be quarantining in an inside cabin. This all assumes you are allowed to use the. Balcony still if you are ever asked to stay in cabins on a cruise ? If you are unlucky enough to contract Covid, you will be moved from your cabin to the designated isolation area on the ship, so it makes no difference at all as to what cabin you originally booked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 4, 2021 #37 Share Posted October 4, 2021 7 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said: In the unlikely event you have to quarantine in the cabin due to Covid for yourself or others on board I think having a balcony might be more valuable than ever Normally we would never consider the extra cost. But it's hard to imagine how unpleasant it might be quarantining in an inside cabin. This all assumes you are allowed to use the. Balcony still if you are ever asked to stay in cabins on a cruise ? My understanding is that if you have to quarantine you would move to a special area of the ship, so that you are away from other passengers, and can be served by a segregated group of staff. All designed to prevent a single case becoming a major outbreak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #38 Share Posted October 4, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 10:36 PM, wowzz said: No Brainer - balcony everytime. Why go all the way to the Carribean and not have a balcony to enjoy ? Given the reduction in flights, I'm somewhat surprised that there is any availability at all ! Interesting reply When do you use your balcony? We are early risers. Like to get up early and walk on the decks and use the gym to keep fit. We literally only use our cabin for sleeping and getting ready And we are always of the opinion you can find way better places on the boat to enjoy the view than in the cabin So we get lowest cabin price available every time giving us more to spend on cruises in general and more to spend on speciality dining and excursions etc I say all that despite my current concerns that whilst Covid is a factor a balcony cabin would be WAY more preferable in case you were ever confined to cabins That's my only reason right now for considering the extra spend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #39 Share Posted October 4, 2021 1 minute ago, terrierjohn said: My understanding is that if you have to quarantine you would move to a special area of the ship, so that you are away from other passengers, and can be served by a segregated group of staff. All designed to prevent a single case becoming a major outbreak. There's only a limited number of quarantine cabins though? And im more thinking of the very worst case scenario of entire cruises being told to stay in cabins which certainly happened in the past On a two week cruise with Covid spreading its a potential risk and it's come into my thinking being honest Not only that we read of people having to stay on ships far longer than their cruise length etc I could handle that better knowing we could sit on a balcony at least (if allowed) I have no idea in a quarantine situation if they allow you on balconies or not ? Anyone know ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billish Posted October 4, 2021 #40 Share Posted October 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said: Interesting reply When do you use your balcony? We are early risers. Like to get up early and walk on the decks and use the gym to keep fit. We literally only use our cabin for sleeping and getting ready And we are always of the opinion you can find way better places on the boat to enjoy the view than in the cabin So we get lowest cabin price available every time giving us more to spend on cruises in general and more to spend on speciality dining and excursions etc I say all that despite my current concerns that whilst Covid is a factor a balcony cabin would be WAY more preferable in case you were ever confined to cabins That's my only reason right now for considering the extra spend I can't speak for Wowzz, but we use the balcony a lot, so we can get away from the riff raff ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #41 Share Posted October 4, 2021 Just now, Billish said: I can't speak for Wowzz, but we use the balcony a lot, so we can get away from the riff raff ! Lol Now that's a different subject! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #42 Share Posted October 4, 2021 Ps to the original thread question having enjoyed a staycation on Britannia recently I would trust P and O to do their very best to keep you safe on board in current circumstances They will have learnt a lot from the staycation cruises albeit a longer length cruise with multiple ports gives them lots more logistics to deal with I wouldn't want to be on the first Caribbean cruise they run for sure They will need a while to figure it all out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 4, 2021 #43 Share Posted October 4, 2021 2 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said: There's only a limited number of quarantine cabins though? And im more thinking of the very worst case scenario of entire cruises being told to stay in cabins which certainly happened in the past On a two week cruise with Covid spreading its a potential risk and it's come into my thinking being honest Not only that we read of people having to stay on ships far longer than their cruise length etc I could handle that better knowing we could sit on a balcony at least (if allowed) I have no idea in a quarantine situation if they allow you on balconies or not ? Anyone know ? You seem to be over thinking the potential problems. There are now hundreds of cruise ships back in operation, and you can be sure that any covid incident on a cruise would have been "done to death" by the media. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #44 Share Posted October 4, 2021 10 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: You seem to be over thinking the potential problems. There are now hundreds of cruise ships back in operation, and you can be sure that any covid incident on a cruise would have been "done to death" by the media. 14 Night Caribbean cruise in winter is a lot different to cruises happening now They've not even started the Caribbean cruises yet In an ideal world my first choice cruise by far is 1st January brittannia Caribbean 14 nights from barbados Great price including flights at the moment £1420 ish per person We love the Caribbean and my wife is desperate for some sun and we know Britannia well But I can't help thinking it's not going to go to plan And as a result considering Iona for a 12 night Spain and Portugal cruise without the sun at a similar time from Southampton and back for £700 ish per person I've far more confidence that will go to plan Either cruise we don't mind if we can't get off the boat. But would love the Caribbean weather Ps I think most people will be thinking long and hard what to do for the best for winter holidays this year It's going to be far from normal still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #45 Share Posted October 4, 2021 19 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: You seem to be over thinking the potential problems. There are now hundreds of cruise ships back in operation, and you can be sure that any covid incident on a cruise would have been "done to death" by the media. A britannia staycation cruise for 4 nights - everybody is on and off the boat before they even have time to test positive for covid Plus you are close to UK hospitals etc for any treatment Big difference the longer the cruises get and the further away you travel and the different level of medical care and expertise in those countries I think I'm just being careful weighing up best thing to do One way or another we need a good holiday ! I know that ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zap99 Posted October 4, 2021 #46 Share Posted October 4, 2021 7 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said: 14 Night Caribbean cruise in winter is a lot different to cruises happening now They've not even started the Caribbean cruises yet In an ideal world my first choice cruise by far is 1st January brittannia Caribbean 14 nights from barbados Great price including flights at the moment £1420 ish per person We love the Caribbean and my wife is desperate for some sun and we know Britannia well But I can't help thinking it's not going to go to plan And as a result considering Iona for a 12 night Spain and Portugal cruise without the sun at a similar time from Southampton and back for £700 ish per person I've far more confidence that will go to plan Either cruise we don't mind if we can't get off the boat. But would love the Caribbean weather Ps I think most people will be thinking long and hard what to do for the best for winter holidays this year It's going to be far from normal still £1500, saver fare, inside cabin, economy seat on flight. Is that a great deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #47 Share Posted October 4, 2021 2 minutes ago, zap99 said: £1500, saver fare, inside cabin, economy seat on flight. Is that a great deal 4 minutes ago, zap99 said: £1500, saver fare, inside cabin, economy seat on flight. Is that a great deal? £2,840 for two people full board and entertainment with return flights to Barbados 14 nights Try pricing up flying to Caribbean and 14 nights in an average hotel with no meals included at same time Or Dubai. Or even the Canaries It's a great deal for winter sun guaranteed Compared to non cruise options at least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #48 Share Posted October 4, 2021 Plus we eat a lot ! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Interestedcruisefan Posted October 4, 2021 #49 Share Posted October 4, 2021 I can get cheaper flying to Miami and 14 nights Caribbean princess same time By about £500 in total But it's not a package and more risky if either flights or cruise gets cancelled Plus need privately booked overnight hotels and transfers etc Its normally very simple in and out of Barbados on Britannia as a package Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbtablet Posted October 4, 2021 #50 Share Posted October 4, 2021 Ah! - now we're getting somewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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