P&O Caribbean help.

[EmilyJay]

Hi,

 

I'm looking into sailing P&O for the first time this December to the Caribbean. 

I've cruised before and have always flown in the day before, however, I see P&O have the option to fly in the day of... Has anyone done this before? Assuming as it's all through P&O if the flight is delayed and the ship leaves they sort you out?? 

 

I've also seen the flights from London is with a lesser known airline, therefore I'd probably switch and pay the difference to fly from Birmingham. Would this more likely be with TUI? 

 

My last question is, with the saver fare you can't choose your dining time.. What are the dining time options? I'm guessing like most cruise lines it's 5.30/6pm or 8ish? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

[9265359]

4 minutes ago, EmilyJay said:

Assuming as it's all through P&O if the flight is delayed and the ship leaves they sort you out?? 

 

Correct. If the flight is late they will most likely delay the ship and in the unlikely event they don't (the aircraft is going to be really really late) then they will make all the arrangements for hotels and transport to catch up - but doing that for several hundred passengers on the flight is a right hassle so not delaying the ship is the last resort.

 

6 minutes ago, EmilyJay said:

My last question is, with the saver fare you can't choose your dining time.. What are the dining time options? I'm guessing like most cruise lines it's 5.30/6pm or 8ish? 

 

6pm or 8.30pm if fixed dining, or if the ship offers it freedom dining. You should look at how many freedom dining restaurants are on board - some like Iona and Arvia are 100% freedom dining, others are 2/3rds freedom and 1/3rd fixed.

 

But if you get something you don't want, they set up in one of the MDR on the afternoon of boarding to take requests to change - they try and help out, although some choices are more in demand than others and can't be met.

[Interestedcruisefan]

23 minutes ago, EmilyJay said:

Hi,

 

I'm looking into sailing P&O for the first time this December to the Caribbean. 

I've cruised before and have always flown in the day before, however, I see P&O have the option to fly in the day of... Has anyone done this before? Assuming as it's all through P&O if the flight is delayed and the ship leaves they sort you out?? 

 

I've also seen the flights from London is with a lesser known airline, therefore I'd probably switch and pay the difference to fly from Birmingham. Would this more likely be with TUI? 

 

My last question is, with the saver fare you can't choose your dining time.. What are the dining time options? I'm guessing like most cruise lines it's 5.30/6pm or 8ish? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

Which ship are you looking at? 

[EmilyJay]

3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Which ship are you looking at? 

Ariva. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, EmilyJay said:

Ariva. 

There's  no fixed dining times then for you to worry about

 

When do you think you will want to eat each night?

 

There's lots  of options on where to dine as well

 

If you want main dining room with set menu served to you we found 6.30pm or 8.45pm  were good times to dine in there

 

There are virtual queues using the app for the main dining rooms but those times the virtual queues are pretty much instant to let you  in

 

Buffet or Quays (self service) any time between 6pm and 9pm ish you will be fine

 

Other speciality restaurants you use the app to book set times on for the specific date and night

 

I love Arvia. It's the newest ship. Loads of bars and restaurants to choose from. Loads Of entertainment to choose from and activities. Brilliant gym if you are into that

 

Some on here prefer smaller more intimate ships though

 

But happy to help you with any questions on Arvia caribbean as I did it last Feb and I'm already booked again this Feb for a repeat

 

Are you travelling with kids?

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

The flights in are all organised by P and O so I wouldn't worry about not getting to the ship in time. They look after their own one way or another.

 

If you are also able to fly in on the Friday still then it's worth looking at as will mean you will be one day ahead of the Saturday arrivals when it comes to booking some sought after options (710 club for example) which only allow bookings once online board

 

We enjoy 710 club so much we've switched to Friday flights next Feb instead of Saturday flights to make booking slots in their easier hopefully 

 

(Its a smaller more intimate  bar with live music each night)

 

That gets booked up very fast

 

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, EmilyJay said:

Hi,

 

I'm looking into sailing P&O for the first time this December to the Caribbean. 

I've cruised before and have always flown in the day before, however, I see P&O have the option to fly in the day of... Has anyone done this before? Assuming as it's all through P&O if the flight is delayed and the ship leaves they sort you out?? 

 

I've also seen the flights from London is with a lesser known airline, therefore I'd probably switch and pay the difference to fly from Birmingham. Would this more likely be with TUI? 

 

My last question is, with the saver fare you can't choose your dining time.. What are the dining time options? I'm guessing like most cruise lines it's 5.30/6pm or 8ish? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

The flights are timed to coincide with the departure so very doubtful you'd have a problem, in fact I can confirm on one cruise we stayed in Barbados an extra day to wait for a delayed flight.

 

The Birmingham flights are all apparently being operated by TUI.  If Gatwick is better have you checked if these TUI flights are full?  They are not all being operated by Maleth.

[Megabear2]

47 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

If you want main dining room with set menu served to you we found 6.30pm or 8.45pm  were good times to dine in there

ICF I thought that was on Iona and you only used buffet and The Quays on Arvia?  Remember on Arvia you can reserve MDR table up to 6.30pm in advance as it's a different system.

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

ICF I thought that was on Iona and you only used buffet and The Quays on Arvia?  Remember on Arvia you can reserve MDR table up to 6.30pm in advance as it's a different system.

Sorry my mistake I treat them the same way in my mind!!

 

You are correct

 

[EmilyJay]

@Interestedcruisefan Thank you for all of that information, it has been very helpful! We won't be travelling with children so don't have to worry about eating at times to suit them or anything. 

Ideally we'd like to fly in the day before, that is the aim. However, with work I just don't think I'll be able to get it off which means we'd be stuck flying the day of. 

 

@Megabear2 Thank you for your help too! That's actually very reassuring if we did have to fly the day of. 

 

 

[Bill Y]

We actually chose to fly on the day of sailing as we reasoned that we would have a sea day to recover from the jet lag. As others have said P&O are responsible to get you on the ship if using their charter. But this was a few years ago before the mega monsters where I believe there is a stampede to book now while stocks last, but I believe that on some ships some things can be booked online about two weeks before.