Selbourne

I agree. Where it’s possible, we prefer to walk into places rather than use shuttles, even though we usually book Select fares, but Haugesund is one of the few places where I think that P&O really should provide a shuttle, especially as the free one provided by the town has gone. It’s not just the distance, but the bridge. At the very least, they should provide an accessible shuttle, as my wife ends up staying on the ship there.

I couldn’t have tolerated that even for 5 minutes. I’d have challenged them directly (much to my wife’s annoyance) as it would absolutely infuriate me and I would call for the deck manager every single time they did it. If they still carried on after deck manager intervention I’d be pushing for them to be removed from the ship at the next port.

You posted at the same time as me! I had assumed that the shuttle was arranged by P&O as we didn’t pay and were on a Select fare, but I’ve no reason to doubt your info. Either way, it’s now a pain for wheelchair users.

When we first visited Haugesund in 2018 there was definitely a shuttle bus paid for by P&O. It dropped off by the Cathedral at the top of the town. It was free for Select fare passengers. We visited twice last year and, as you say, there is no provided shuttle, just pay for options. My wife stayed on the ship both times as the bridge is challenging for manual wheelchair users (even with me pushing) as it’s quite steep and the pavement is narrow.

Yes that is factually correct.

I make no judgement on whether the policy is right or wrong, nor on those who choose to pack a bottle or two within their luggage. As I have said, it makes no odds to me as we have never taken alcohol with us and don’t intend to start. My point was simply that this policy is unenforceable, as suitcases generally aren’t opened, passengers wouldn’t be with them if they were, and even if they can see a bottle via a scanner it could be anything. Port security aren’t looking for bottles, they are looking for terrorist related threats. I stress, I am not advocating rule breaking, merely pointing out that it’s very easy to do so.

but, again, impossible to enforce.

My wife is a full time wheelchair user. The issue that you are referring to is that Britannia doesn’t have stairs midships, so everyone has to use the lifts, even if they would normally use the stairs, so this puts added pressure on the midships lifts. We don’t find it to be a major problem, other than disembarkation morning (which is a challenge on most P&O ships for those with mobility aids). The way to cope with the lifts is to try to use the forward and aft lifts. If your cabin is midships the trick is to use the lifts nearest to where you end your day (which is often forward or aft, as that’s where most entertainment is), travel up to your deck and then walk along the corridor to your cabin. Quicker and easier than walking to the midships lifts on a busy deck. Hope that helps. You shouldn’t have any major issues though. The only ship we really struggled on with lifts was Iona, as they are tiny, everyone uses them and lift etiquette was poor.

We found the MDR food to be generally fine on Iona, Britannia and Ventura last year, but Aurora this year was below par. Seems to vary not just by ship, but by cruise as well!

In order to settle a very minor argument between my good lady wife and me, we brainstormed all the ‘cutbacks’ that we noticed and got to about 30. I did a thread on it at the time. In reality we don’t miss 75% of them and for many we found work arounds. MDR food isn’t as good as it was (choice etc) but, other than on Aurora, was still OK and the prices reflect it. So will we still cruise with P&O? Yes. But we have lowered the maximum price per night that we are prepared to pay. We have 2 Cunard cruises next and will be very interested to compare. My expectations will be much higher given the price we are paying.

So the space on just one passenger deck could be the top of the lift shaft (motors etc)?

There is space for it to be a service lift from that deck down, as there is white space at every level below it, but why a service lift would just go up as far as that deck is beyond me! I always avoid white spaces on the assumption that they will be a source of noise of some sort or other, but the bigger balcony is obviously tempting.

I’ve deliberately not engaged much with this debate as it doesn’t affect us. We never take alcohol on board (either at embarkation or in port), we don’t drink in our cabin or on our balcony and we feel that on board drinks prices are reasonable. They are certainly no more expensive than any pubs we use and to complain that you can buy them cheaper in supermarkets is daft IMHO. The only fair comparison is against pubs and hotels. The choice of drinks can be quite limited in some of the bars, and indeed from room service so, even though prices are reasonable, I do have sympathy with those who enjoy a particular tipple and the only way to achieve that is to take a bottle with them. As for the motivation for this change, I’m inclined to fall on the side of trying to drive up on board spend rather than to deter drunkenness. If it was the latter, then offering drinks packages runs contrary to that objective. Whilst many of us feel that the drinks packages are over priced (even before the possible increase) and wouldn’t drink anywhere near enough in any given day (especially on port days) to make them even remotely viable, those whose prime motivation is to get drunk every day will certainly buy them and won’t be taking bottles on board when they are getting their booze ‘free’ with their drinks packages. O.K. they might have pre-dinner drinks in their cabin but one bottle, out of their entire holiday consumption with a drinks package, will be a minimal contributor. Those who are motivated by drinking to excess won’t be remotely deterred by the policy change. As well as access to drinks packages, the new policy would be dead easy to dodge by ‘smuggling’ bottles on board within suitcases. Let’s be realistic, they won’t be caught by doing this and there’s no consequence if they were. The sole risk is a bottle smashing if it wasn’t wrapped adequately. Whilst it’s not something I would do (for reasons stated) if a bottle of something special that you can’t buy on board was a deal breaker, even for moderate to light drinkers, then I’m sure that most people would do the same rather than ditch the cruise line.

Thanks. You posted that info as I posted my question about that! On the basis that we avoid buffets we will aim for the Golden Lion (assuming that it will be open). I just hope that we can get in, as I should imagine that it’s where those ‘in the know’ head! Am I correct in thinking that the food in the Golden Lion is included in the fare (free)?

Thanks. Does the Britannia restaurant open for lunch on embarkation day, or is everyone other than grills passengers expected to use the buffet?