Selbourne

Ok, so with a great degree of trepidation, I decided to re-look at all 5 of our future bookings to see how much more or less they would be if we were booking them now. The results were staggering. All the Aurora bookings were made as soon as they were released and the Britannia ones a year before sailing. All took advantage of discounts and OBC offers at the time.

The price comparisons are total I.e. Select fare less on board credit

Aurora Baltic 16 nights May 17. Balcony. Cost when booked £4242. Cost now £5948. An increase of +40%

Aurora Northern Lights 12 nights Mar 18. Balcony. Cost when booked £3038. Cost now £4448. An increase of +46%.

Aurora USA. 24 nights. Sep 18. Balcony. Cost when booked £7260. Cost now £7898. An increase of +9%

Britannia. Med. 14 nights. Summer 17. Suite. Cost when booked £6298. Cost now £6848. An increase of +9%

Britannia. Med. 14 nights. Summer 17. (Same cruise as above) Balcony. Cost when booked £3948. Cost now £4428. An increase of +12%

So, in all cases, we were better off booking early and, in some cases, by huge amounts. Have to say, I was very surprised. We want to specify a specific cabin and are very fussy re location, so will only do select bookings and have to do so well in advance. Frankly, I expected some of the prices to be a lot less now.

Perhaps us early birds do catch the worm :)

Must just be my perception then. I went through a phase of tracking the prices, in the days when the saver fares were good. I also tracked the select fares. But it does seem that P&O have a particular talent for upsetting people without explanation.

 

 

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Well said! Yes I think it used to be far more stable but they now have such vast capacity to fill and on the newer ships it's not uncommon for over half the passengers to be first time cruisers, so they seem to be in a constant state of flux as far as pricing is concerned.

And, of course, the fact that they don't have transparent pricing helps them to hide this fact. Those of us who spend ages trying to work it all out (or debate it on forums such as this) are probably less than one percent of cruisers, so although it's downright infuriating for us, it probably works for P&O!

We have been on a number of cruises where excursions have sold out before departure and, on occasion, a reasonable number of them. It is not just those where capacity is limited by some other means of transport (e.g. capacity of a boat) and they do not always add additional coaches to fill demand.

So, if there is an excursion which you wouldn't want to miss, I would strongly advise that you do not to do as some others have suggested and wait until you are on board. You may well be disappointed.

It is also infuriating that if you book on board using your on board credit you do not get your loyalty discount. Frankly, I think it's sharp practice by P&O that every purchase on board eats into your OBC at full price until it's gone and only then do you start to benefit from your hard earned loyalty discount.

As others have said, your auto gratuities come out of your OBC as well as all your other on board spend. I thoroughly recommend the select dining restaurants, in particular The Epicurean, although the most popular days and times can also sell out before you board, so book them on the afternoon of the day that you board for your best chance if you want to use your OBC to pay for the supplements.

I would take it up with your agent for sure. The select price has always been fixed, with the saver price fluctuating according to demand. I've no idea what P&O are doing right now but traditionally, their customer service is non-existent.

 

 

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I don't believe it's the case that Select prices have always been fixed. They certainly haven't been in recent years. They seem to change with great regularity, often increasing when generous on board credit deals are offered and decreasing when they are not.

Even though we have been cruising with P&O for 20 years, I have never been able to work out which time of year, or time out from departure date, is the best time to book in order to get the best deal. It seems that even if you think you have cracked it with one cruise, the same rules don't apply to the next one!

If anyone has genuinely worked out an answer to this conundrum, that works every time, then I don't believe that they have ever shared it on this forum!

I believe that there are other cruise lines that do not fluctuate prices as much as P&O and I, for one, would like to see more transparency. For a start, P&O no longer publish a full table of fares for every cabin category and every cruise within their (very poor) brochures. I have a 1995 brochure which is far better (and clearer) than they are now 20 years on.

Ideally, I would like to see a system where the best deals are when cruises first go on sale. I'm sure that I wouldn't be alone in being likely to book more cruises well in advance if I knew that this was the best time to do so. Then after an early booking rate, move to a less discounted price which remains constant right up until a few months before departure. Finally, a few months out, do a last minute deal at a price to fill the remaining unsold cabins. Whilst that will still be a frustration to those of us who have already booked, we will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we secured our ideal cabin at a good rate some considerable time ago and that those booking at the last minute will be getting the least desirable cabins.

Cheers DaiB,looking at your cruising track record, I think I will take your advise.I have no intention of eating in buffet and dont care if everyone stares at me for dressing like a peasant, LOL.I want to eat the better menu in the MDR,cheers,Brian.

You are right to heed daiB's advice as he is correct whereas some of the other advice you have been given in this thread is not.

I would concur that around 95% of gents wear dinner suit or tuxedo during formal nights (maybe a slightly lower percentage on the newer ships with a high proportion of first time cruisers) and most of the rest wear a dark suit, but you would certainly not be refused entry or asked to leave if you had a lighter shade of grey and were wearing a tie. It's really about looking smart. Some people can manage to look very scruffy in a dinner suit or tuxedo on formal nights, whereas others in lounge suits can look incredibly smart.

Passsengers regularly 'contravene' the dress code to varying degrees and it only seems to trouble a very very small minority of more traditional passengers and rarely the staff. I've often seen ladies in brightly coloured dresses on black and white night and whilst they might stand out it's their choice and the black and white aspect is optional (in the same way that other themed nights are).

Although my family and I adhere religiously to the dress code as we don't want to feel out of place and out of respect to others (so, perhaps, we are slightly in the old school camp), I prefer the casual nights. That said, it's lovely to see everyone in their finery and formal nights definitely add something to a cruise that you don't get on a land based holiday.

Although wearing a light grey suit on a formal night would be quite acceptable (as long as you would feel comfortable) and wouldn't bother me at all, I do wish that P&O would enforce the more basic elements of dress code during the evenings. On Britannia, we went for a drink in the Crows Nest before dinner a few nights and even as late as 8pm there were still groups in there wearing shorts and t-shirts and the staff said nothing. There, I said I was a bit old school :)

Thanks Florry! I will be asking how much to upgrade nearer departure date!

 

 

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I may be wrong, but I don't believe that there's ever an option to call P&O and secure a bargain upgrade. You either have to book what you want in the first place and pay the price (as we do) or run the risk and keep your fingers crossed and hope that you will get a call offering you an upgrade, which you may or may not receive.

If you could book a lower grade cabin in the knowledge that at some stage between then and departure you could call and secure a discounted upgrade then that would surely undermine the whole booking process?

I've never really understood how the upgrade offers are determined (in terms of who gets offered them) and wouldn't be prepared to risk it, but I do believe that meaningful upgrades (such as a move up to a suite when you didn't book one, as opposed to a grade change within the same cabin type), even when offered, aren't free as implied. I know of people being offered an upgrade to a suite for £100 which is irritating for those of us who booked one in the first place and paid the full suite price!

Thank you very much for that. I am disabled so its nice to be near where I want to go i.e. Crows Nest. Which dining room with single tables were ou referring to. Is it a nice ship. Ive heard lots of negative reviews although I believe they look after disabled people like myself very well.

Dave

Britannia is superb for disabled guests. Almost everywhere is easily accessible, even in a wheelchair. The only problem you will find is with lifts, especially mid-ships where there are no stairs. All lifts are very small and it's amazing how many able bodied passengers use the lifts for every single movement between floors (even forward and rear lifts where there are stairs) - even just to go up or down one or two floors. Hardly any will vacate a lift to permit a wheelchair user (who has no choice but to use the lift all the time) to enter and you can wait quite a long time for a lift with enough room for a wheelchair. When I was able to, I used the stairs all the time to help keep the pounds off. I don't think most people realise just how little distance their is between each floor. It's not like a land based hotel. 99% of passengers could manage 3-4 decks at a time without any difficulty whatsoever, but never try! Other than that (and the absence of a promenade deck) she's a lovely ship. Enjoy.

I'm sure if we dug our heels in and made demands, they would oblige. But frankly we can't be bothered. If it's not naturally forthcoming then we wouldn't enjoy it. We don't want meals in our suite, we prefer to go to the restaurants (especially The Epicurean for breakfast) but once my wife stayed on board when I went ashore and when she called the Butler about lunch (which should be the full restaurant menu served in the suite by him) he told her to call room service. When we have enquired about select dining restaurants we have been told the number to call. I could go on.

We would never have a party in our suite out of consideration for those in neighbouring cabins. I know how irritating I would find it if trying to relax or rest in my cabin with a noisy gathering next door. There are plenty of public bars for that.

I know that you were only wanting the opinion of one specific poster, but I couldn't resist sharing that the butlers we have had have been very quick to highlight the virtues of room service - being far too lazy to offer full in-suite dining. We don't decline the service as we have paid for it, but just use butlers for the delivery of the (very poor) canapés and next days menus. We have found them to be downright lazy and will try to get away with doing as little as possible.

What a dreadful experience. I really feel for you. I do hope that a senior officer has spoken to these awful people. How passengers such as this can get away with ruining others holidays is beyond me. I must commend you on your calmness and balance. I would have thrown them all off the balcony! Sadly, we find that most people are quite inconsiderate to some degree, failing to appreciate that sound insulation on cruise ships is very poor and full volume conversations, TV's on the sort of volume you may have at home or allowing doors to slam shut can be a major irritant for neighbours, but the low life's next to you seem to take this to a different level. My sympathies.

Ah, I hadn't read anywhere that the OP was referring to Oceana. It does help if people provide as much info up front (ship, cruise type, cabin category etc etc) as it makes getting to the correct answer much quicker!

Oceana has very few 4 berth cabins with balconies and those that can accommodate 4 are mostly suites and mini suites, which I am guessing is not what the OP is trying to book.

So, I doubt it's got much to do with the kids club. The cabins that do exist will have been booked within weeks of the cruise going on sale.

There are around 70 4 berth outside and inside cabins on the lower 2 decks, if you don't mind having no balcony.

Why not look at one of the newer ships. They have hundreds of cabins that can take 4. Just look at all the double asterisks on the deck plans.

I remain unconvinced. If it was Feb 17 then maybe. But Feb 18, no way. That's why you should call P&O and not rely on an agent. We can all guess or have our own opinions and most of us will be wrong! Only P&O can tell you the facts.

The kids clubs are no smaller in Feb than in August yet it is a significantly less popular time for family cruises. It just doesn't add up for me.

Please call P&O and then put us all out of our misery!

Whilst many solo travellers enjoy the company of a shared table, I can quite understand why they may wish to dine alone on occasion, not least to avoid being questioned on why they are travelling alone, which must be tiresome. I am guessing that the reason the OP asked the question is because they may consider doing so, rather than asking our opinions on whether or not it was the best option!

Select dining provides a fantastic opportunity to dine alone, should you wish to. You would feel far less out of place than dining alone in a main dining room. As the food and service is also far superior, I would probably spend most nights in a select dining venue if travelling solo and, unlike the main dining rooms, tables are NEVER shared in these venues.

As for the currency for tips, again we are all giving our own opinions or assumptions, but I recall at a Q&A with the purser once (when they did them and before they were called Hotel Managers or whatever they are called now) and this subject came up. The purser said that, if asked, staff will politely accept whatever currency they are given BUT they had a very strong preference for pounds sterling as that was the currency they used and it saved them the trouble (and potential cost) of converting. As someone else has said, they don't all go ashore and spend money. So, although they willl never refuse Euros or Dollars (or whatever), pounds sterling is the tip of choice.

As a huge proportion of cabins can accommodate 4 people and hardly any cruise is sold out until very close to sailing, I think it highly unlikely that a cruise in 2018 has no availability. Yes it's a school holiday but in Feb, so not a peak time in the way that August would be.

You haven't said whether or not your enquiry has been with an agent or with P&O direct. If it's the former, try calling P&O. They will have access to all cabin availability. You might be using an agent who doesn't fully understand all the P&O quirks. 'Offers' promoted by agents are nearly always P&O offers anyway and I'm not convinced that there are significant benefits in booking with 3rd parties.

Finally, have you tried searching for specific cabins on the booking portal of the P&O website? Go through a dummy booking for the cruise and when you get to select a cabin the website shows a small selection of available cabins for the grade you have chosen, but not all that are available. Also, there are loads of different categories for the same grade of cabin - perhaps your agent just checked one? Now here's the important part. On this page there's a small box to check availability for a specific cabin. It hasn't worked properly for a couple of years but seems to be fixed now. Have a long list of all 4 berth cabins you would consider (varying grades) and check them one at a time. Be sure to click on the check button next to where you input the number each time. If you press 'enter' on your keyboard (or 'Go' on a tablet) for some reason the search doesn't happen and you still get the 'cabin unavailable' response from the last one you checked which is misleading.

I would try all of the above before giving up. As i said earlier, I just cannot believe it's sold out over a year in advance, school holidays or not. Good luck.

I would manage your expectations, particularly during the daytime! Unless you are in to low level sport, health and exercise, quizzes, bazaar like shopping and sales pitches for the spa (thinly veiled as beauty lectures) none of which are my ideal holiday fodder, then there is little to do during the day, other than moving from meal to meal with brief rest periods in between :D

You can sometimes get lucky and get a good guest speaker. Two we enjoyed were a former Royal Flight Wing Commander who gave interesting talks on the Royal Family, Concorde and the Second World War and a criminal pshychologist who gave fascinating talks on a whole host of topics. Others can be weak with bizarre subjects (last cruise talks on heroin - I kid you not).

Some good recent films can be shown, but picture and sound quality in the cinemas aren't great and unless you get a front row seat your view will be slightly obscured.

Port talks, which used to be interesting years ago, are now a few minutes of low level info on the port followed by prolonged sales pitches for tours.

Other than the meals and generally relaxing, the undoubted highlight of a sea day is a behind the scenes ships tour. Quite expensive but worth every penny. Fascinating insight into how the ship and crew operate with access to areas you cannot see and free drinks and snacks, ending with a Q&A with the captain (something they used to do for all guests but don't seem to these days).

Evenings are slightly better. Headliner theatre shows are generally good, but less frequent than they used to be (I'm sure that they were nightly when we started cruising and are now around every third night with solo artists of varying quality in between).

So, in summary, there are generally a few things of interest each day, but rarely enough to provide wall to wall entertainment.

Hi everyone, am new to P&O- not cruising- and am off on the TA from Barbados to Southampton in March, on Britannia. I have a couple of questions- sorry there may be more as is gets nearer:-

1) what currency would you tip your cabin steward in? I now that tips are added to the onboard account by P&O , but I always leave an extra tip if the service is good.

2) Can you book the speciality restaurants for one person, and do you end up sat on your own or at a larger table with other people? What happens to single people in the Limelight club- do you sit on your own or with others?

 

Thanks

Caroline

Tips should be in pounds sterling, but don't forget that you will be charged an auto gratuity per day, so you don't have to tip in addition.

If you book a table for one in a select dining restaurant then that's what you will get. Unlike the main dining rooms you will never share. Enjoy.

We have always cruised on family ships with our children from when they were young (they are now adults and still come with us) and I maintain that the problem is almost always attributable to poor parenting.

We never let our children crash around in cabins, shout or slam doors. In restaurants they would always sit at the table and behave impeccably. When very young, if one started crying in a restaurant, we took them outside and calmed them before returning, so as not to ruin the experience for others.

Children are naturally high spirited and will quickly become an irritation to other people if not taught how to behave. It infuriates me in restaurants (on land as well as on ships) when parents allow children to wander around the table, causing a danger to themselves and waiters who are carrying plates of hot food and often brushing past the chairs of neighbouring diners. When the parents see the scowls of other diners, they do a half hearted 'sit down' which the children sense has no consequence if they ignore - or sit down temporarily for a few minutes before the routine starts again. The parents and grandparents, usually the loud 'look at me' types, continue to loudly enjoy their meal whilst being oblivious to the fact that it's ruining the experience for others and causing a nightmare for staff.

These same parents are often the ones who will allow their children to run full pelt along ships corridors, even though it sounds like thunder for those trying to rest or sleep in the cabins they storm past at speed. And, of course, it's easier for these parents to let them run riot in the cabin, crashing and banging around and slamming doors, than to ruin their own holiday by having to tell them off.

Much as we love Britannia, these types are even more prevalent than on other ships, hence why we book a cabin at the end of a corridor, try to avoid adjoining cabins where there are additional berths and seek sanctuary in select dining restaurants, where the cover charge has a natural tendency to create a delightful degree of segregation!

We failed once. We booked a Superior Deluxe on Ventura and deliberately chose one that would have two adults only either side. Unfortunately, one side was a couple who were grandparents to four young children who were staying in two inside cabins along the corridor with their respective Mums who used the grandparents balcony to sunbathe with earphones in whilst their kids used the Grandparents cabins as a crèche. Banging on the wall did no good and my wife also doesn't like confrontation, so I spoke to reception. From then on, the adults used to refer to me as 'Mr Grumpy' when they saw me in the corridor. Pathetic individuals.

In all seriousness, I feel desperately sorry for these children. It's not their fault, it's their parents fault. Our children were high spirited and energetic but from the very start they were taught how to behave in public places. They still loved every minute of their cruises. What chance do these children have in an increasingly competitive world when their parents are such poor role models.

....er excuse me....I am a cruiser on adult only ships and I am neither elderly ...nor VERY elderly! :D

Apologies if any offence was caused! I'm not saying that every single passenger is very elderly, but i believe it is a fact that the AVERAGE age profile of adult only ships is significantly older than on family friendly ships. You don't have to look very hard on these forums to find comments that support that fact. To be absolutely clear, although I am not retired, I would far rather cruise with a ship of mostly retired folk than younger revellers or children, but we did a ships tour of Arcadia and didn't like her and although we love Oriana and have cruised on her twice before she became adult only (including our first ever cruise in 1996), we now need an accessible cabin and Oriana doesn't have any with balconies.

To further support my contentious comment, a lady I work with and her husband (in their 50's) who both love cruising and P&O, did a cruise on Arcadia and hated it as they felt that they were about 30 years younger than the vast majority of cruisers and said it felt like a floating care home! I stress that this aspect wouldn't bother me one jot, but that was their honest assessment. Please don't shoot the messenger :D

The Ventura is a family ship, you have to expect and tolerate some noise from children. There are adult only ship for those not wishing to share their holiday with children.

Some noise, yes. But what the OP experienced was excessive and unnecessary and he never said that he didn't want to see or hear children. Adult only ships are not always an option for everyone and the very elderly passenger profile isn't to everyone's taste. Personally I have no problem at all with well behaved children. It's lovely to see them enjoying themselves and dressed up in the evenings. I do, however, have a problem with poor parents and would have felt exactly the same had I experienced those issues.

The boarding time can be earlier than 12.30 as it was on 2 of our cruises this year. On the second of our back to back cruises on Arcadia the dining room was open from 12.00.

 

 

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That's encouraging to hear as on our last 2 cruises (both Britannia) they have commenced priority boarding at 1230 on the dot and the dedicated 'lunch' (I use the term loosely) hasn't started until later and hasn't been worth it. We couldn't even drink the free sparkling wine we were given as it tasted foul (I'm sure it used to be Champagne, but certainly isn't now)! We are on Ventura and Aurora (as well as Britannia again) this year so will compare and contrast. What time would you say is the earliest that Suite passengers should arrive? We seem to have settled on 1130 but are always amazed how many people are already there when we arrive!

Not all of this is what happens now Selbourne. Check in for suites has been getting earlier and earlier. They are now checking in as you arrive, well before 12.00. You go into a separate area where you can get tea and coffee and a snack. You are taken to the security when the ship is ready. The lounge on board has free drinks, fizz, and red and white wine. It is now generally open as you board. There is also a buffet. On Oceana this included a hot meal with beef. They certainly have adapted the system since it was brought in last year.

 

 

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The only differences in your post from what I described are that the priority boarders Lunch sometimes starts as soon as you board and that on Oceana they had a hot beef option! Everything else you mention is exactly as I described and was based upon 2 cruise experiences in the past year, the last being a few months ago.

We have been on 2 cruises on Britannia, both in peak summer school holidays. There were (from memory) around 800 children on board each time and I can honestly say that we never experienced any problems from unaccompanied children.

We did, however, on several occasions, see families in the restaurants allowing young children to get out of their seats, wander around getting in the way of the waiters (dangerous) and irritating other passengers whilst doing so. In those cases, I don't blame the children, but the parents who fail to exert basic parenting skills. I don't think we were model parents, but we would never have allowed our children to do that in a restaurant when they were that age.

Much as we really like Britannia, the passenger mix is, shall I say, quite 'mass market'. No surprise given that cruises are now far cheaper than they used to be and P&O has many times more cabins to fill every week than they did in years past. Thank God for select dining restaurants, where we regularly seek sanctuary :D

Sound insulation between cabins is generally poor - and from corridors even worse - and it never ceases to amaze (and irritate) me that people think it's acceptable to walk along corridors late at night having full volume conversations, laughing and joking, waking countless people up with a start as they pass by their cabins. Some folk are sadly so self centred they don't even think about others and that some people may be on holiday to have a rest and not all of us are late night revellers. The same can be said of parents who allow their kids to run along corridors, which sounds like someone hammering on your door when you are asleep. And don't get me started on people who insists on slamming cabin doors late at night!

We are always acutely aware of neighbours, don't talk loudly, keep the tv volume reasonable, don't slam doors, don't have full volume conversations in walkways etc and always insisted the same of our children when they were young. But, sadly, many people don't give a passing thought to any of these things.

For a while now my girlfriend & I have had a booking for B730 later this year. I was recently looking at the on board credit offer and cogs started turning. We originally booked on board so paid £50 deposit and got £120 each obc.

 

As far as my girlfriend is aware we're still booked into the original balcony cabin we booked. However secretly I've cancelled the original booked and booked again in a B4 suite with £400 per person obc. :)

 

Because we only paid a £50PP deposit originally, the gain massively outweighs the loss. My plan is for my girlfriend to remain completely unaware until check in or finding the cabin.

 

My question is this. P&O state that suite guests along with certain loyalty tiers get 12:30 boarding time. What time should we turn up at the terminal? Will we be sent straight to check in or given a coloured card as normal?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Chris

Assuming that this is a Britannia cruise, boarding arrangements for suite passengers are as follows;

Arrive from around 1130. As you go up to the departure lounge, let them know you are suite passengers and priority boarding. You may be directed directly to the check in desk (we usually are at around this time). After check in you go to a small waiting area immediately outside the security check area. Nothing terribly flash about this, but free drinks and biscuits and newspapers. At 1230 you (along with all other priority boarders) will be called first to go through security (airport style, with same levels of brusqueness) and be first on the ship. Your suite will be ready (even if they say it won't be) so you can drop off hand luggage and head straight to the buffet for lunch before the masses arrive. Last 2 cruises we have been at the buffet 10 mins before it opens so have first pick and no queues. There is a priority boarders drinks and snacks session in one of the restaurants but it doesn't start until mid afternoon and isn't worth it. You will want something to eat before then and the food is very limited (and not great) and the free drinks are cheap plonk. Better to use that time to wander around the ship and explore areas that are usually out of bounds (Retreat, Spa etc) whilst the ship is quiet.

In our view, priority boarding is a fab benefit, only surpassed by being able to have breakfast in The Epicurean every morning, which is extremely civilised (away from the crowds) and starts the day off very nicely. The menu is a little restricted, but that's a small price to pay as it's the nicest restaurant on the ship by a country mile. Enjoy!

I do not smoke and never have. If my, now, husband had smoked when I met him I would never have gone out with him. I hate it and always have.

 

HOWEVER, to discriminate against anything or anyone is appalling and not something I would ever condone.

 

Once you discriminate against smoking, what will it be next - drinking, nightclubs, pubs! There are a large number of people who hate cruise ships so do we allow those people to win and ban cruising, of course not, it would be ridiculous.

 

I do think that society nowadays does seem too willing to 'ban' things at the drop of a hat before thinking about where it might lead.

 

You are on a cruise at least once a year, so if you get a 'bad' cabin on one there is always the next cruise to get over it. :)

Hmmm Not sure that's a terribly robust argument! I hope that you boycott Child Free ships as that's no less discriminatory? Some people wish to have a holiday free of children and that's catered for, yet those of us who hate the smell of cigarettes (never mind the health issues) are not. In all honesty, the current compromise of having relatively few smoking areas is probably a reasonable one, but it does still cause some issues for those of us who are non-smokers and just don't want to smell it anywhere. Having an entire ship free from the stench would, in my view, be a fabulous idea, especially as the vast majority of people don't smoke. Thankfully smoking is in decline and now considered anti-social. If it wasn't an addiction, I'm sure that the cost of it alone would have almost eradicated it, as I do wonder how most people can afford to blow (literally) that sort of money up in smoke. So a sensible debate on the concept is worthy of merit, unlike comparing it with banning cruises altogether just because some people don't like them which is, of course, just silly :)