Live from Iona Norwegian Fjords 20th May 7 Nights

[elmsliebev]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I can’t imagine that many people would be happy being dropped anywhere other the city centre. Seems a bit pointless. 

The science park is fascinating and it's easy to hop on a bus from there into the old town, or walk (about 30 mins) along the river bed park. We stayed opposite the science park for 5 days having had a day in Valencia from a cruise. One of my favourite cities.

But it would help if P&O told pax that's where they'd be dropped off! 

[Selbourne]

21 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Normally in the Quays I only have trio of desserts

 

But seeing as it's Celebration Night I've gone for Quad of desserts tonight

 

From left to right

 

Blackberry jelly

Chocolate fudge cake

Ginger cake (I think)

Lemon Posset with rhubarb

And I bet you are slim as well. I blame my genes 😡 😂 

[TigerB]

23 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

 

 

C'mon man; you've had three months to work out how to rotate photos on your phone. Get a grip! 😅

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, elmsliebev said:

The science park is fascinating and it's easy to hop on a bus from there into the old town, or walk (about 30 mins) along the river bed park. We stayed opposite the science park for 5 days having had a day in Valencia from a cruise. One of my favourite cities.

But it would help if P&O told pax that's where they'd be dropped off! 

Interesting though it may be, I doubt it’s what most people wanted to see during a few hours port stop in Valencia, and that’s quite a walk pushing a wheelchair!

[elmsliebev]

Just now, Selbourne said:

Interesting though it may be, I doubt it’s what most people wanted to see during a few hours port stop in Valencia, and that’s quite a walk pushing a wheelchair!

absolutely. Which is why P&O should tell pax what's happening. 

[zap99]

5 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Suspect no news is bad news in this case! 

It seems that no news was good news in this instance.😁

[Interestedcruisefan]

Ok Hartnett and Holder Italian Lunch pictures

 

The drive in, the building and the Mediterranean Garden was stunning. Would be an amazing place for a wedding.

 

When we arrived they had prepared a champagne picnic on the lawn and croquet for a group

 

Anyway some pics below

Edited May 21, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

a more upbeat and representative picture of how P&O are doing and counterbalance some of the recent negativity.

If you deem valid criticisms of P&O to be ‘negativity’ then Cruise Critic is best avoided IMHO. With a few exceptions (both ways) the vast majority of contributors give very balanced feedback - good and bad. If you want a consistently rosy picture, may I recommend the P&O website? They have an excellent marketing team and everything is always perfect 😉 

[Interestedcruisefan]

53 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

I knew I liked you ICF: You Reds!!! What a great way to celebrate too 😊

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

50 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

You are better placed than anyone else posting on here to find out whether there were really any significant queues / delays on boarding.

 

BTW, congrats on the football.  We were at Trent Bridge yesterday for the cricket and left not long before the football match started.  The Home fans were quite enthusiastic and fairly well-lubricated at that point, so I bet there was a real party afterwards!  I've had a soft spot for Forest since Clough's day.  So, well done them.

47 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

I knew I liked you ICF: You Reds!!! What a great way to celebrate too 😊

Bumped into someone in an Everton shirt today. He hadn't heard we had won. Imagine his dismay when I told him!!

 

 Lol

 

If there were delays early they cleared them before we arrived

 

Unless they actually happened after we arrived after 3.30pm?

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Ok Hartnett and Holder Italian Lunch pictures

 

The drive in, the building and the Mediterranean Garden was stunning. Would be an amazing place for a wedding.

 

When we arrived they had prepared a champagne picnic on the lawn and croquet for a group

 

Anyway some pics below

Now that’s a proper cheeseboard 😂 

[Interestedcruisefan]

56 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

 

53 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

😊

 

56 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Now that’s a proper cheeseboard 😂 

I knew you would like that!!

[zap99]

30 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Ok Hartnett and Holder Italian Lunch pictures

 

The drive in, the building and the Mediterranean Garden was stunning. Would be an amazing place for a wedding.

 

When we arrived they had prepared a champagne picnic on the lawn and croquet for a group

 

Anyway some pics below

Looks good, but it should be at that price. I bet you are puzzled about all this talk about Valencia on your Norway thread and the apparent massive queues that you didn't see.🤣

Edited May 21, 2023 by zap99

[cruising.mark.uk]

8 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

If you deem valid criticisms of P&O to be ‘negativity’ then Cruise Critic is best avoided IMHO. With a few exceptions (both ways) the vast majority of contributors give very balanced feedback - good and bad. If you want a consistently rosy picture, may I recommend the P&O website? They have an excellent marketing team and everything is always perfect 😉 

I'm finding it hard to work out what positive criticism would be, so guess I do see criticism as negative.  But I didn't say that at least some of it wasn't justified and / or that it didn't reflect the experience of those who wrote it.  My point was simply that it would be refreshing to see an upbeat review to counterbalance it - despite your confidence that contributors give very balanced feedback, there is very little positive to find amongst the catalogue of woes on the Arvia review thread.   So, absolutely no rose-tinted glasses here, but a desire for both sides of the coin to be reflected accurately in a way that provides a more balanced perception of how the 15000+ customers per week on P&O find their holiday.  Hearing that some people actually enjoy themselves on a P&O cruise and encounter no or few problems that impact significantly on their enjoyment might, hopefully, make some of those newer to P&O think twice before cancelling cruises on the basis of one person's bad experience.

[zap99]

6 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

I'm finding it hard to work out what positive criticism would be, so guess I do see criticism as negative.  But I didn't say that at least some of it wasn't justified and / or that it didn't reflect the experience of those who wrote it.  My point was simply that it would be refreshing to see an upbeat review to counterbalance it - despite your confidence that contributors give very balanced feedback, there is very little positive to find amongst the catalogue of woes on the Arvia review thread.   So, absolutely no rose-tinted glasses here, but a desire for both sides of the coin to be reflected accurately in a way that provides a more balanced perception of how the 15000+ customers per week on P&O find their holiday.  Hearing that some people actually enjoy themselves on a P&O cruise and encounter no or few problems that impact significantly on their enjoyment might, hopefully, make some of those newer to P&O think twice before cancelling cruises on the basis of one person's bad experience.

Interesting that anyone not agreeing with the negative  posts must be wrong ,although ICF didn't experience the alleged massive queues and is happy so far .Valid and fair criticism should be...well...Valid and fair. IMHO.

[carlanthony24]

13 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

I'm finding it hard to work out what positive criticism would be, so guess I do see criticism as negative.  But I didn't say that at least some of it wasn't justified and / or that it didn't reflect the experience of those who wrote it.  My point was simply that it would be refreshing to see an upbeat review to counterbalance it - despite your confidence that contributors give very balanced feedback, there is very little positive to find amongst the catalogue of woes on the Arvia review thread.   So, absolutely no rose-tinted glasses here, but a desire for both sides of the coin to be reflected accurately in a way that provides a more balanced perception of how the 15000+ customers per week on P&O find their holiday.  Hearing that some people actually enjoy themselves on a P&O cruise and encounter no or few problems that impact significantly on their enjoyment might, hopefully, make some of those newer to P&O think twice before cancelling cruises on the basis of one person's bad experience.

To be honest people on other sites have said they have had no problems on Arvia some have said they had problems on Iona. Personally do see more balanced on the other sites. 

[Megabear2]

28 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

Bumped into someone in an Everton shirt today. He hadn't heard we had won. Imagine his dismay when I told him!!

 

 Lol

 

If there were delays early they cleared them before we arrived

 

Unless they actually happened after we arrived after 3.30pm?

I think the pictures cause panic when you look at them but actually it's nothing to worry about.  Our queues looked similar on 14th but everything ran very smoothly.  A lot of the problem when looking at them is until you've actually experienced it you may think it's horrendous.  Personally I thought it was well managed.  I particularly liked the two sections to board which led, as you say, direct to your muster check in.

 

The ship sailed on time which to me indicates no problems.

[Megabear2]

23 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

I'm finding it hard to work out what positive criticism would be, so guess I do see criticism as negative.  But I didn't say that at least some of it wasn't justified and / or that it didn't reflect the experience of those who wrote it.  My point was simply that it would be refreshing to see an upbeat review to counterbalance it - despite your confidence that contributors give very balanced feedback, there is very little positive to find amongst the catalogue of woes on the Arvia review thread.   So, absolutely no rose-tinted glasses here, but a desire for both sides of the coin to be reflected accurately in a way that provides a more balanced perception of how the 15000+ customers per week on P&O find their holiday.  Hearing that some people actually enjoy themselves on a P&O cruise and encounter no or few problems that impact significantly on their enjoyment might, hopefully, make some of those newer to P&O think twice before cancelling cruises on the basis of one person's bad experience.

The other thread is no more, hasn't been for several days and won't be reopening exactly because I have no desire for anyone to worry or cancel cruises based on my experience.  I'd be very grateful and ask politely if you could kindly drop it now.  I booked my trip based almost entirely on ICF's enthusiastic reports from his Arvia cruise as I enjoyed hearing about it.  I'm wanting to hear his experience this time too without digs at me. Thanks.

[Selbourne]

33 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

I'm finding it hard to work out what positive criticism would be, so guess I do see criticism as negative.  But I didn't say that at least some of it wasn't justified and / or that it didn't reflect the experience of those who wrote it.  My point was simply that it would be refreshing to see an upbeat review to counterbalance it - despite your confidence that contributors give very balanced feedback, there is very little positive to find amongst the catalogue of woes on the Arvia review thread.   So, absolutely no rose-tinted glasses here, but a desire for both sides of the coin to be reflected accurately in a way that provides a more balanced perception of how the 15000+ customers per week on P&O find their holiday.  Hearing that some people actually enjoy themselves on a P&O cruise and encounter no or few problems that impact significantly on their enjoyment might, hopefully, make some of those newer to P&O think twice before cancelling cruises on the basis of one person's bad experience.

Understood, but if you feel that this site is heavily biased towards the negatives, for goodness sake don’t venture onto some of the other review sites. It will not be good for your mental health 😉 

[Selbourne]

26 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Interesting that anyone not agreeing with the negative  posts must be wrong ,although ICF didn't experience the alleged massive queues and is happy so far .Valid and fair criticism should be...well...Valid and fair. IMHO.

ICF boarded quite late and certainly some time after those reports of delays were being posted. Not having been there myself, I have absolutely no idea whether the reports of people boarding 2 hours late were true or a complete fabrication, but all I would say is that those who were reporting it at the time were not those who are usually prone to sensationalism. Believe me, as we are due to board Iona in the August school holidays, nobody will be more relieved than me to find out that the reports were exaggerated! 

[Cathygh]

17 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I think the pictures cause panic when you look at them but actually it's nothing to worry about.  Our queues looked similar on 14th but everything ran very smoothly.  A lot of the problem when looking at them is until you've actually experienced it you may think it's horrendous.  Personally I thought it was well managed.  I particularly liked the two sections to board which led, as you say, direct to your muster check in.

 

The ship sailed on time which to me indicates no problems.

I still struggle to understand why you have to queue outside even if you arrive on time and even though the queue moves quickly. There is something not right about it, it was never a probem until they introduced this new system.

It has been suggested elsewhere that they now make early arrivals wait outside so they learn not to arrive early. If that is true then that is stiil a shocking way to treat customers. P&O have never to my knowlege explained this new system to their customers. In addition eleswhere people are reporting being held on coaches for 2 hours with broken toilets. The whole thing is a mess and needs to be readdressed.

[Megabear2]

5 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

I still struggle to understand why you have to queue outside even if you arrive on time and even though the queue moves quickly. There is something not right about it, it was never a probem until they introduced this new system.

It has been suggested elsewhere that they now make early arrivals wait outside so they learn not to arrive early. If that is true then that is stiil a shocking way to treat customers. P&O have never to my knowlege explained this new system to their customers. In addition eleswhere people are reporting being held on coaches for 2 hours with broken toilets. The whole thing is a mess and needs to be readdre

From what I observed if you were.on time you went straight into the queue to go into the building.  I've no idea why they have adopted this system.for the smaller ships but there simply wouldn't be enough room inside to stack up all the early arrivals for Arvia and Iona.

 

One thing I did hear from my assistance man was that their company has less staff now and he has to work longer hours. It was also noticeable inside that there were far fewer "guiders" than previously.

 

I do appreciate I'm lucky to have a relatively simple journey but there really isn't going to be anywhere to put several thousand people inside if they're early.

 

All I can say is I agree with ICF and others that the experience was not bad.  It wasn't as quick as my Cunard one the week before but I enjoy Diamond priority with them in much the same way as others here do with P&O.  If anything I'd say the people who may have problems with the new P&O system are the middle boarders and coach arrivals.  Early and late seem.relatively okay.

[happy v]

Something someone said the other day about bugs being caught in the terminal. Could it be possible. With covid hindsight. They think outside queues may cut down on infection.

 

[Selbourne]

5 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

It wasn't as quick as my Cunard one the week before but I enjoy Diamond priority with them in much the same way as others here do with P&O.  If anything I'd say the people who may have problems with the new P&O system are the middle boarders and coach arrivals.  Early and late seem.relatively okay.

Like you, we had priority boarding on QM2 the other week, but friends who didn’t and arrived an hour or two later said there were no queues and they were on board in no time at all. I’ve no idea how representative that is, as there were probably no coaches for that cruise (with it being a last minute one) but they were on a regular Cunard cruise last year and said it was the same. 
 

I would agree that for those who don’t qualify for priority boarding with P&O the least stressful option may be to arrive late when the worst of the queues have subsided.