caroline135

We always take the ehic to back up the insurance. Worst case scenario if you were taken ill & removed from the ship to hospital it will certainly come in handy. It gives you the same level of health service the locals are entitled to, so not valid in private healthcare clinics / hospitals.

We have had to use my daughters ehic before, not on a cruise but an Ibiza holiday, severe ear infection, showed card & passport at local hospital, filled in a form & seen by a doctor very quickly. Much better than paying large fees upfront, then claiming when back home & still paying any excess for the same service via the travel insurance.

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Brilliant review, thanks very much Jim ( & to whoever bumped it up the forum for me to find! ) Easily the best review on here.

Six months to wait until our first time on Independence & your amazing photos and writing are really useful & adding to the excitement [emoji3] thanks again

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Hmm, my first thought is why not try this? ...

As you are on Ventura ( & it's more or less identical to Azura ) next week, I would write a polite note to the cabin/cabins in the same position explaining your dilemma & ask their opinion on how they are finding the theatre noise, & would they be kind enough to drop you a quick line in reply.

Either ask guest services to deliver, it if they will, or pop it in their post tray outside the cabin door yourself. Give your cabin number & they can reply to you in the same way.

I know it might seem a bit of an unusual approach but it was the first thing that came to me! Who better to give an informed opinion? You're in the unusual position of having the perfect opportunity to ask. I certainly wouldn't be offended if I was the one being asked & would be happy to reply!

Or if that's not your style - you might think I'm nuts, I call it thinking outside the box [emoji38], just have a wander down the Ventura P corridors during the shows next week & see what you can hear [emoji6]

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In preparation for a cruise in August (planning ahead), I've been compiling a list of recently-available cocktails, and have uploaded it here. Hopefully most of these will still be around later this year.

Wow, thanks very much, that's an impressive & helpful list!

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That's great, thanks

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Thanks so much for the reply, I thought that might be the case. Do you know if i can pick a package for just the daughters though? Or does a choice apply to every passenger? Will it give the option to choose who wants what?

You mentioned it asking for credit card, so I presume I can pay upfront? It's not added to the onboard account?

Thanks again, and apologies for being the useless newbie [emoji38]

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My cruise is Southampton UK to Spain & Canaries, 2nd October.

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Finally decided & booked - we're going to try Independence this year, we've loved our P&O cruises but just felt not getting as good value for money this time compared to our previous bookings. This years Ventura price was dearer despite being October compared to Aug/Sept last year, & for inside select it has no OBC this year, last year we had same grade cabin ...with £580 OBC!! They spoilt us last year, but it's backfired this year haha

I think the girls will have more to do & see on board RC. It might be the last time they both want to join us ( or the last time I want to pay for them more like[emoji38] ) & their vote went to IOTS.

Either way it's a cruise, that's the main thing & I'm just grateful to be going, my mum has cancer & is often on/off chemo, she can't get travel insurance at the moment so I'm just thankful for what I can do when others aren't so fortunate.

I'll be back to P&O as I do love it, that first cruise is always special, so hope you'll still allow me here [emoji6]

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This is what I've got available

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Hi, I've just booked my first ever RC cruise ( UK booking ) for October and looked in the cruise personaliser today, we've got select package included free in the holiday price for me & my husband which doesn't actually show on the CP, nor the $400 credit - should it be there? It's the current uk 'double fun' promo. Wonder if we can upgrade to the next one as the CP shows the 20% off so only a few £ more.

9876, thanks, you said you can delete from the cart, so I might try it but don't want to make a expensive mistake & be stuck with it! I didn't dare click it to find out, It's all new to me & slightly terrifying [emoji38]

I wanted to purchase the soda package for my daughters. When it says to add something to the cart will it give the option to pick for which guests? The packages just all say 'add to cart'. Are they then paid for now or added to the onboard account ?

Thanks / sorry! [emoji4]

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Enjoyed reading all these responses, thanks everyone.

I'm a terrible ( or maybe it's cautious ! ) decision maker but think we'll probably try IOTS & book eavesway & give it a go, just for the daughters sake really & the fact we love being out on deck & it looks like IOTS beats Ventura hands down for that. My only worry is if its sailing full but hopefully as its early October it might not be the case.

Thanks again & sorry OP for butting in! [emoji4]

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Hi everyone, just found this & reading with interest as I have same choice to make, it's between Ventura & IOTS for me.

Only ever done two cruises, oceana & azura, loved them both but treating daughters this year (19 & 23) all be it in our cabin as they are only £280 each!! I thought they might prefer the IOTS wow factor & maybe a bit more going on, shows & things to do maybe more to their taste for example.

RC have a great offer on so I'm really tempted. It's swings & roundabouts tho as what I seem to gain on RC I loose out in the select benefits, particularly no free coach from here in Yorkshire which we love! It's a long trip to s'ton & adds the possibility of overnighting the day before to avoid disaster, as well as all the petrol & hubby moaning! But the free RC drinks package for me & him will be nice to avoid big bar bills & I'd maybe buy them a drinks package. But will the little things add up, like 4x port transfers x2 at every stop?! It's harder to find the info than p&o I think.

I'm just not sure!!

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My daughter has worked for Pandora for years so even though her discounts in her shop are better than we'd get on the ship, she was still keen to see the on board franchise .... Wasn't very impressed! She noticed lots of the items were actually MORE expensive on the ship than instore as many were from Pandora's sale range, but still normal ship price, & the cruise ship charm was unavailable according to the miserable sales person. Part of her job is staff training & evaluations so they failed her customer service assessment [emoji38].

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Thanks for all the info, I like the sound of the deck over the bridge. I did find the hidden prom on Azura but only because I'd read it on these forums first! Was eerily quiet out there and never saw a soul.

My first cruise was Oceana and I liked wandering round the complete prom deck on her, so Ventura sounds a bit more like a proper one too.

I'm definitely all for the outdoor space on a cruise, watching the waves & the world go by, with a bit of people-watching thrown in - I just love it!

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Thanks Dave, yes it will be handy for the days nearer home. And I like a proper prom deck too!

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Looks like Ventura is the best fit for holiday dates this year, we did Azura last summer, which we loved, so although I know they are similar I'm curious to know the differences please.

We liked the outside space and sun traps especially around the higher levels round the sea screen area of Azura, & I like to stand at the sides for hours and just watch the ports come & go. I wondered if the retractable pool roof caused more shaded areas / less sun beds / space to stand & stare. Great idea though, just the pics I've seen make it look a bit penned in. It will be outside of school holidays though so that will obviously help.

I'm just happy to be able to go on any cruise so it's not a deal breaker, just interested in any info & tips.

Any other info for a Ventura virgin gratefully received [emoji3]

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We've twice used the service from Doncaster, picks us up about 3 miles from home. Very convenient & good service, and a real benefit for us of the select fare. Hand the cases over and no more worrying. Toilets on board but they did two stops, one quick & another about 45 mins for lunch. We take book/newspaper/iPad etc & just relax.

Only slight niggle was leaving Azura last year there was a delay on the homeward journey, a problem in the luggage hall meant we had to wait for the last few passengers who's cases took over an hour after ours to appear. But if I'd have been in their position, it's reassuring to know the coach waited for them. If you'd have had a train booked, it wouldn't have done the same!

The Azura cruise was an August one and the coach was full, but the previous cruise was October, coach had spare seats so loads of room for your hand luggage etc, we had the whole back row - felt like kids on a school trip [emoji38]

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We also added adult daughter about a week after booking (we'd already selected 4berth in case) and she paid 50% of the fare! No obc though, so she helped drink mine [emoji6]

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Hi we were on the same cruise, we were sat outside the buffet right next to the outer windows to the side of Aqua bar, the bridge made an announcement just before stating they had been informed by the French navy that they were performing training exercises in the area & we may see them fly by. A few seconds later the jet flew by the window with a huge roar very close to the ship, incredible noise and speed!

As you were in your cabin you wouldn't have heard the bridge info.

Hope you had as good a holiday as we did, fantastic cruise!

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Thanks, Im sure we will do, getting very excited - driving everyone mad in & out of the cases rearranging and checking / rechecking stuff [emoji38]

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Thanks sue, that's great news! I thought it was a bit strange.

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My cruise leaves in less than 48 hours, a couple of days ago all excursions were available to book, but yesterday they all became 'wait list' only! I wondered if p&o stop bookings so close to departure? Anyone noticed it before? I've added our names to one we want so hopefully they may put more coaches on if there's enough demand.

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We did a NCL cruise to the Canary Islands 2 years ago and because of swells in the atlantic didn't actually get into any Canary Island. We did get into Madeira which was lovely but the Canary Islands days became sea days. Hubby was ill for about five days. Needless to say he is not fussed about cruising with NCL again.:(

Ooo that's hopefully an unusual swell Wilson,as we are doing same itinerary in a few weeks on Azura! What a shame for you.

Azura's been to la spezia today according to my MarineTraffic app, but she's recently departed so now can't check if docked or was at anchor

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This year and last year I've found that January is a good time if wanting select fare promotions, we booked in January 2014 & 2015 and were very happy with the deals, particularly this year when I was watching a cruise with good obc .....then they had the double obc promo towards the end of jan, so we ended up with £580 for an inside, and free coach or parking & transfers too. Taking my obc into account, the current saver price for this cruise is still £150 more with none of the free extras.

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I know all this was several months ago now but I'm doing the Madeira / canaries cruise next month. I'm looking at an independent nuns valley tour on Madeira, anyone else done this ?

TheJuggler, as you've done it I wonder if you can help - I've read lots of comments on tripadvisor about the trip being hair-raising & not for the faint hearted. Is it really that bad? Not sure hubby will like it. I went to Switzerland several times as a child and wasn't keen on hanging over the mountain edge in the coach! It looks amazing though so would love to try it.

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