Iona problem

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

Solo makes a big difference,  our strategy  wouldn't  work. Have you tried Saga. We were on them in May, they have over 100 solo cabins, and work hard to help solo travellers meet others . All the solo travellers we met thoroughly enjoyed Saga.

I had a great cruise with Saga (although not solo) some years ago to Norway. I'm sure I would enjoy them again but sadly, since they have gone "boutique", all-inclusive and all-balcony, they are not within my budget. I normally book an inside or the cheapest outside grade with P&O.

I am sailing a short cruise with Ambassador Cruise Line later this year. They seem to cater well for solos too and prices are reasonable.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Britboys

[jeanlyon]

19 hours ago, Britboys said:

Each to their own but I'd rather be one of the youngest pax on a Fred ship than cruise on P&O's bigger ships...

Absolutely agree.  Anyway, the age of the passengers doesn't matter to me.  As long as I can sunbathe, go ashore to different places and have pleasant conversation at dinner, that's my holiday.  Their two new ships look good, especially Bollette.  And yes, I will book last minute.

[gsmt47471015]

53 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Absolutely agree.  Anyway, the age of the passengers doesn't matter to me.  As long as I can sunbathe, go ashore to different places and have pleasant conversation at dinner, that's my holiday.  Their two new ships look good, especially Bollette.  And yes, I will book last minute.

Pleasant conversations at dinner are something we avoid , had too many rude/know it all /that's enough about me now lets talk about me types to put us off for life , more than happy to dine as a two or as a four when our travelling companions are with us, however each to their own  

[jeanlyon]

We only once had a bad table and moved to another table for 8 and had a marvellous time.

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Pleasant conversations at dinner are something we avoid , had too many rude/know it all /that's enough about me now lets talk about me types to put us off for life

You must have been extremely unlucky. 

Although we have not been on that many cruises, we have only once been sat with anyone that are as you described.

[zap99]

22 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

We only once had a bad table and moved to another table for 8 and had a marvellous time.

Perhaps they had similar thoughts Jean.🤔🤣

[gsmt47471015]

14 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You must have been extremely unlucky. 

Although we have not been on that many cruises, we have only once been sat with anyone that are as you described.

That maybe the case , we have done a lot of cruises so its possible its opened up the odds of dining with people we are not comfortable with ,and to be fair we like each others company, we did get on an eight once, and because of the way people sat it  ended up been four sets of two holding a conversation with each other, also had the misfortune to sit on a six when four of us skipped dessert, coffee and  cheese board just to get out , if anything it taught our travelling companions, who up to that point would always share, that they were finished with sharing 

[gsmt47471015]

34 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

We only once had a bad table and moved to another table for 8 and had a marvellous time.

As we always have freedom dining moving to another table would not work ,its rude to get up and ask for another table after ten minutes🤣  So to avoid embarrassment we stick to a two even if it means waiting until a table becomes available. The one problem is the two's are so close so as to be a split four and you feel as though you are intruding on to the next table   

[Britboys]

Pleased to say that in over 20 cruises on about 8 lines, I've never had a table from hell...

[Camberley]

Apart from one appalling table last year where this rancid pair of homophobes was sat with us, we've really enjoyed dining with others we befriend on cruises. But that husband really was dreadful: bit of a "know-it-all-and-loudly" initially but then some nasty comments that he and his wife clearly found funny: and to think we assumed that type of person was dying out!

 

Anyhow, we called him up on his comments and shortly after asked to be moved to a non-homophobic table. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by Camberley

[Neecy1]

We can't stand it at dinner when the 'how many cruises have you been on?' question is asked. It drives us mad so we tend to get a table for 2.  Weve only been on 2 TA cruises, the 3rd is in November. Just because we haven't cruised doesn't mean we're not well travelled. We've been all over the world with our kids but dont feel we need to brag about it. My DH was waiting for me outside the ladies room one evening when this man, who was waiting too, felt the need to ask that question! Imagine his face when DH answered 31! Which is true in a way as he was at sea for 10 years! Said man walked off

[gsmt47471015]

47 minutes ago, Neecy1 said:

We can't stand it at dinner when the 'how many cruises have you been on?' question is asked. It drives us mad so we tend to get a table for 2.  Weve only been on 2 TA cruises, the 3rd is in November. Just because we haven't cruised doesn't mean we're not well travelled. We've been all over the world with our kids but dont feel we need to brag about it. My DH was waiting for me outside the ladies room one evening when this man, who was waiting too, felt the need to ask that question! Imagine his face when DH answered 31! Which is true in a way as he was at sea for 10 years! Said man walked off

It is the question we dread, we really do like to keep ourselves to ourselves, however we are far from anti social and will not avoid people or places , dining been the exception

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, Camberley said:

Apart from one appalling table last year where this rancid pair of homophobes was sat with us, we've really enjoyed dining with others we befriend on cruises. But that husband really was dreadful: bit of a "know-it-all-and-loudly" initially but then some nasty comments that he and his wife clearly found funny: and to think we assumed that type of person was dying out!

 

Anyhow, we called him up on his comments and shortly after asked to be moved to a non-homophobic table. 

I must say that in all the cruises Tony & I did before he died, we never experienced anything like that. We never sat down and announced we were a couple but made it obvious from general conversation that we were. We had a couple who were Jehovah's Witnesses on one table and two men who were factory workers on another and whilst they seemed a little uncomfortable, we were afforded respect at all times. I think the two men found it quite a revelation that I was into football...😂

[Fionboard]

1 hour ago, gsmt47471015 said:

It is the question we dread, we really do like to keep ourselves to ourselves, however we are far from anti social and will not avoid people or places , dining been the exception

Always really amuses me that couples on "table for two" generally look miserable as sin, but all the laughter and chat comes from the sharing tables. As you say, each to their own, but I like to be sociable on holiday and have met some good friends that way.

On 7/30/2022 at 6:46 PM, Yorkypete said:

Our cruise on Iona next March will not take place, however in order to save our deposit we may move the cruise forward to a smaller one in about 18 months to two years time. If P&O have not improved then it will be goodbye and we will cancel and lose our deposit. I take your points Megabear but anyone can see the behaviour is letting P&O down. I am sorry to say it as we have loved Britannia, although I must be honest and say my fav. ship is Independance of the Seas. It is just a shame that not that many cruise lines use Southampton therefor the choice is not very wide. Time to try others though and see what happens after September. AS an afterthought Megabear, we have been openly lied to by P&O and that I cannot  let go.

 

[Bin man]

We have had 30 cruises and managed a table for 2  26 times all first sitting . We have managed to be socialable with our close tables for 2 and have had just as many laughs as the bigger tables .So hope we weren't one of the miserable as sin people . 

[gsmt47471015]

34 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Always really amuses me that couples on "table for two" generally look miserable as sin, but all the laughter and chat comes from the sharing tables. As you say, each to their own, but I like to be sociable on holiday and have met some good friends that way.

 

Well quite obviously you have not seen us at a" two", were the ones who talk to each other with no mobile in sight!!!And we have seen larger tables having a real good evening as you have commented so if that's what does for some then no problem at all.  Do agree that some couples look fed up with each other though 

[Fionboard]

3 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Well quite obviously you have not seen us at a" two", were the ones who talk to each other with no mobile in sight!!!And we have seen larger tables having a real good evening as you have commented so if that's what does for some then no problem at all.  Do agree that some couples look fed up with each other though 

Exactly, depends on the couple. Good point about mobiles though. Should not be allowed at the dinner table. Some people cannot do without them and can be so annoying at times. Whatever happened to the art of conversation! 

[AndyMichelle]

Each to their own, but Michelle has to put up with my sense of humour all year round, so we like to spread the 'love' on a cruise. 

We have been lucky to meet some great friends for life from all backgrounds and haven't really encountered any bad ones. 

It really is a big part of the holiday for us. 

Andy 

 

[jeanlyon]

4 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Each to their own, but Michelle has to put up with my sense of humour all year round, so we like to spread the 'love' on a cruise. 

We have been lucky to meet some great friends for life from all backgrounds and haven't really encountered any bad ones. 

It really is a big part of the holiday for us. 

Andy 

 

Agree Andy.  We are still in touch with at least 6 people we met on board.

[Dermotsgirl]

50 minutes ago, Bin man said:

We have had 30 cruises and managed a table for 2  26 times all first sitting . We have managed to be socialable with our close tables for 2 and have had just as many laughs as the bigger tables .So hope we weren't one of the miserable as sin people . 

We’ve always preferred  a table for two, for various reasons. 
 

Firstly, we are both quite shy, so small talk with people isn’t something we actively seek out.

 

Another reason is that we can eat our meal at our own pace, and don’t have to wait for other people to chomp their way through 5 courses.

 

Lastly, in recent years I have become a bit deaf in one ear, so find it quite difficult to follow what people are saying in a noisy dining room, particularly if people are quietly spoken.

 

Having said that, from time to time we have interacted with people on adjacent tables, but there’s no pressure to do so. We have shared tables on some cruises, when freedom dining wasn’t a thing, and it was ok, but not something we actively seek to do.

 

What makes me smile is that the people who are supposedly having a whale of a time on their big tables have time to look at small tables and make a judgement on their enjoyment levels! 😂

[Jennizor]

We have always shared a table on second sitting. We have had some wonderful experiences and have kept in touch with several couples. On a Princess cruise to Canada and the east coast of America we shared a table with a couple from Canada and one from Australia. Both men were English born, one from very close to where we live and one from about 15 miles away. It was the best time, we all did our own thing during the day and met up late afternoons to form a quiz team. I don’t think I have ever laughed as much as I did on that cruise. We had lots of other good tables just two not so. We always ask for a table for six and on one occasion there was only 4 of us. The other couple were really nice, he was the image of Ian Lavender. His wife, however, couldn’t keep awake through the whole meal so he constantly talked to make up for her lack of conversation. Eventually, the four of us moved to a table for 8 and it worked fine. The only other time we had a less than brilliant experIence was when on a table for 6 we had a lovely couple and a couple who tried to dominate the conversation, talking all the time about how wealthy they were. The wife turned up several nights very drunk and sometimes not at all.
 

Only two less than excellent tables, and 13 great ones.Roll on September 15th for our next cruise on Azura to the Eastern Med.

[Josy1953]

We used to enjoy sharing tables but as we have got older we have changed and now we always request a table for 2.  The reason is that we eat a lot less than we did when we were younger, frequently  only managing 2 courses and have no wish to sit and wait while our table companions have 4 courses.  We like to eat and then move on to enjoy the ship's various entertainment venues.

[jeanlyon]

I have never eaten more than a starter and a main, but quite happy to sit while others eat.  On occasions we have left the table early giving our excuses.  Nobody minds.

[ChristopherTracy]

This table sharing is interesting - we enjoyed lots of chats with random people around the ship, in queues for the 710, in bars and the buffet but I wouldn't want to sit next to someone at dinner as there's more of an expectation of sociability that I think I would find oppressive. My teenager would just huff their way through it as well.

[Saab4444]

Is all this still about Iona issues????