Strict arrival times

[grapau27]

26 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

Graham, 

I booked the Limelight Club x2, the Chefs Table and Sindhu two weeks before we went on our March cruise on Iona. I have just checked my booking on My P&O cruises as it says I can book the restaurants I want 2 weeks before our July Iona cruise.
 

 

I kept getting the message 

Enquire on board last year on Iona,

As we have future Iona bookings thank you for your information @Jennizor

Edited June 13, 2023 by grapau27

[daiB]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

No you can't Tom.

I tried every day from 14 nights from embarcation.

In the last year we have been  on Ventura

Azura.

Britannia 

Iona twice.

We could not book on line.

I booked a full cruise dining package though online on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the seas for our January 2023 cruise.

I booked a 2 night Speciality dining package on MSC Virtuoso for our April 2023 cruise.

Sorry Tom is correct we booked the Epicurean  on Iona in March along with Limelight.

[grapau27]

17 minutes ago, ccpm said:

Sadly for me that would mean I didn't cruise. I only eat in Epicurean usually and book every day. After a really nasty incident with a set of passengers in the MDR I would never go in there again it scarred me for life how nasty they were to me. I buy Epicurean to ensure I keep myself to myself. Everyone has the same opportunity to buy in advance they can always cancel it they decide against it, although I do appreciate many will want to use their OBC.

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience in MDR 

@ccpm and those nasty passengers were disgusting treating you like that.

We personally like P&O and sailing from Southampton but imo there is a big difference between the quality of food and service in the speciality restaurants and this is why we are willing to pay for that priveledge.

[elmsliebev]

46 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Apparently Virtuosa now only boards passengers at Southampton.

presumably for the summer season? In March she was boarding at every stop (Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge & Le Havre). We had our fastest ever boarding at Southampton with MSC. Had 4pm boarding time, arrived about 1.30 by coach from NW England, straight on the ship. 

[P&O SUE]

13 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

I kept getting the message 

Enquire on board last year on Iona,

As we have future Iona bookings thank you for your information @Jennizor

Even on Ventura we have booked Epicurean for the first night. It’s only a four night cruise but it’s virtually all booked up for the Epicurean, just the odd 6pm or 9pm left.

[grapau27]

4 minutes ago, daiB said:

Sorry Tom is correct we booked the Epicurean  on Iona in March along with Limelight.

It was last year when we were on Iona.

As we have 2 future bookings on Iona and Arvia I'm pleased to hear your comments @daiB.

In the last 7 months we have been on Ventura,Azura and Britannia and had to book Epicurean and Sindhu on board.

 

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

No you can't Tom.

I tried every day from 14 nights from embarcation.

In the last year we have been  on Ventura

Azura.

Britannia 

Iona twice.

We could not book on line.

I booked a full cruise dining package though online on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the seas for our January 2023 cruise.

I booked a 2 night Speciality dining package on MSC Virtuoso for our April 2023 cruise.

Sorry but with Iona you are incorrect. We went on her in March and pre booked and paid online 14 days prior to the cruise for Epicurean for my birthday and also paid £10pp deposit for Sindhu which came off final bill onboard after 10% discount for pre booking and Peninsular Club discount.

[grapau27]

2 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Even on Ventura we have booked Epicurean for the first night. It’s only a four night cruise but it’s virtually all booked up for the Epicurean, just the odd 6pm or 9pm left.

Thank you Sue.

It is frustrating when you can book speciality on line on some ships but then have to enquire on board for others.

 

[daiB]

Just now, grapau27 said:

It was last year when we were on Iona.

As we have 2 future bookings on Iona and Arvia I'm pleased to hear your comments @daiB.

In the last 7 months we have been on Ventura,Azura and Britannia and had to book Epicurean and Sindhu on board.

 

We are about to do the bookings for our Britannia cruises. this will be at the weekend. I have to say that in the past I never bothered to book before the cruise as they always seemed to come round touting for custom. However we do tend to do longer cruises.

[showingdiva]

7 minutes ago, elmsliebev said:

presumably for the summer season? In March she was boarding at every stop (Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge & Le Havre). We had our fastest ever boarding at Southampton with MSC. Had 4pm boarding time, arrived about 1.30 by coach from NW England, straight on the ship. 

 

The MSC ship that homeports in Southampton in the summer - MSC Virtuosa in 2022, 2023 and 2024 only embarks passengers there.   Currency in GB Pounds.

 

The winter / Christmas ship - Virtuosa last year winter, Euribia this winter and next, homeports in Hamburg, but embarks passengers at each port on the continual loop of Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre and Southampton.   Currency in Euros.

[grapau27]

Just now, daiB said:

We are about to do the bookings for our Britannia cruises. this will be at the weekend. I have to say that in the past I never bothered to book before the cruise as they always seemed to come round touting for custom. However we do tend to do longer cruises.

We just did June 2nd-June 9th Fjords cruise on Britannia and had to book on board.

My food photos are on the daily thread. Number 46685

[grapau27]

7 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Sorry but with Iona you are incorrect. We went on her in March and pre booked and paid online 14 days prior to the cruise for Epicurean for my birthday and also paid £10pp deposit for Sindhu which came off final bill onboard after 10% discount for pre booking and Peninsular Club discount.

See my previous post 103

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by grapau27

[grapau27]

48 minutes ago, ccpm said:

That has not been the case for me Grappau. Every cruise on Iona from Dec 2022 (4) I have booked on line before departure. Recently returned from Ventura ($ weeks ago) I booked on line too. 

Personally I have always pre booked speciality restaurants online and preferred this.

It is frustrating when you can pre book online now on some cruises but then get Enquire on board on others.

[cruising.mark.uk]

23 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

 

The MSC ship that homeports in Southampton in the summer - MSC Virtuosa in 2022, 2023 and 2024 only embarks passengers there.   Currency in GB Pounds.

 

 

The link I provided to the MSC website in post 91 suggests this is not quite right.  MSC are selling Virtuosa cruises from Malaga and Barcelona this summer.

[david63]

2 hours ago, daiB said:

It is not hard just to park off siteb and wait then come at your allocated time. 

Not sure how you would park "off site" if travelling by train/plane

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

See my previous post 103

 

?????

[grapau27]

8 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

?????

 

8 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

?????

It is showing 106 now.

I hope you enjoyed your birthday cruise Tom in March.

When I checked my files it was March 2022 we were on Iona for Pauline's birthday.

We have 2 future bookings on Iona and Arvia so I hope I can pre-book Epicurean and Sindhu on line for those.

Graham.

 

 

[daiB]

49 minutes ago, david63 said:

Not sure how you would park "off site" if travelling by train/plane

That was in resonse to a comment about arriving by car.

[Ardennais]

4 hours ago, daiB said:

I wish I had a pound for every time I have read this excuse. usually followed by well I am just going to turn up when I want. It is not hard just to park off siteb and wait then come at your allocated time. 

I agree.
 

We always stay in Southampton before every cruise and have to check out of the hotel by 11.00. There’s plenty to do in Southampton before we board around 3pm.  

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, daiB said:

Sorry Tom is correct we booked the Epicurean  on Iona in March along with Limelight.

We did too in February.

[AndyMichelle]

8 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I now have priority boarding, but still remember how frustrating I felt when I hadn't, not knowing if I would be sent to the back of the queue when I arrived early. Fortunately I never was, but I still remember how anxious it made me until I safe on board. 😉😇

That's hit the nail on the head John. 

For us returning cruisers and newbies, we don't know, that's why we ask... 

We all have different requirements, so one solution that is supposed to fit all just won't work for many. 

The fear of getting stuck in the traffic in Southampton is enough to make us anxious, especially with a late boarding time... 

If we had priority or an earlier time, we wouldn't be worried. 

We have come up with a solution that suits us, but unfortunately won't suit everyone. 

There is no need to criticise passengers who do it differently or are trying to work a way that takes away the worry for them. 

If all the late boarders planned to arrive on time and Southampton came to a standstill for hours, which it sometimes does, either hundreds of people would miss their holiday or the ship would delay departure, which we know is not always an option... 

Everything will probably be OK, but that doesn't stop loads of us worrying and wanting to minimise our risk. 

I have changed my view on the queues and now feel most people in them are quite happy to wait, now it is clear you will have to, at least they know they are there. Of course they will be wishing for an earlier time, but at least they 'ain't missing the boat' 😂

This has nothing to do with people wanting to get in the buffet early, it's just about getting on board at all... 

Andy 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

I always used to heave a sigh of relief when we got to the terminal. In later years we had priority boarding, but before that, I was always happy to wait until my turn. There was always seating available, and it didn’t seem to be ‘frowned’ on by P&O back then.

 

As Andy said, totally understand why people want to get to the terminal promptly 

[david63]

Isn't a lot of this the same problem that we have in most towns/cities these days? We build more houses but do not improve the infrastructure.

 

P&O (applies to other cruise lines) build bigger ships but ABP/Carnival do not provide the infrastructure to go with them. If memory serves Ocean Terminal was built with the likes of Azura being the biggest ship at the time. Since then there has been Britannia and then Iona/Arvia both being bigger yet Ocean has not significantly increased in size

[Fionboard]

Reading all these posts about organising dining and entertainment in advance, I am glad I stick to the smaller ships where spontaneity is still possible. Far more relaxing! 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

That's hit the nail on the head John. 

For us returning cruisers and newbies, we don't know, that's why we ask... 

We all have different requirements, so one solution that is supposed to fit all just won't work for many. 

The fear of getting stuck in the traffic in Southampton is enough to make us anxious, especially with a late boarding time... 

If we had priority or an earlier time, we wouldn't be worried. 

We have come up with a solution that suits us, but unfortunately won't suit everyone. 

There is no need to criticise passengers who do it differently or are trying to work a way that takes away the worry for them. 

If all the late boarders planned to arrive on time and Southampton came to a standstill for hours, which it sometimes does, either hundreds of people would miss their holiday or the ship would delay departure, which we know is not always an option... 

Everything will probably be OK, but that doesn't stop loads of us worrying and wanting to minimise our risk. 

I have changed my view on the queues and now feel most people in them are quite happy to wait, now it is clear you will have to, at least they know they are there. Of course they will be wishing for an earlier time, but at least they 'ain't missing the boat' 😂

This has nothing to do with people wanting to get in the buffet early, it's just about getting on board at all... 

Andy 

 

Well said Andy.

We always stay overnight in Southampton and get breakfast in our hotel or Carluccios so no panic going to the ships buffet.

Some hotels want you out at 11am and some 12am so if you have a 3.15pm check in you have all of your luggage, valuables and vital medication with you which is inconvenient.

Some people will go to the terminal and at least drop off their main luggage and have the option to see if they can check in or wait or carry hand luggage back to a nearby pub/restaurant in Southampton.

The only time we were in queues was when everyone had to take a test in the terminal.