Selbourne

That’s very good advice. We did a return transatlantic and wouldn’t do it again. The 6 sea days each way were way too much for us and we wouldn’t repeat it. It was worse on the return journey as we didn’t have the time in the USA and Canada to look forward to and we just wanted to get home. Admittedly it was outward to New York and return from Quebec, so didn’t have the warm weather that you’d get on a Caribbean cruise, but as we don’t sunbathe we still wouldn’t do it. The only Caribbean cruise that would appeal to us would be a fly cruise (flying both ways) but my wife cannot fly now so that’s not an option. However, we are all different and others absolutely love the prolonged run of sea days. I guess you don’t know unless you try it!

It’s worth knowing that if you were to consider upgrading to a larger cabin now (rather than leaving it to chance with the bid system), the price difference that you pay is the price that applied at the time that you made the original booking and not the price that applies at the time that you make the change. Depending on when you booked, this might work in your favour. Most of the minimum bid prices quoted by people on this forum so far have seemed quite high and, in some cases, no cheaper than it would have been to have booked the higher grade cabin in the first place! Given your situation, I would call P&O (if you booked direct - which I assume that you did to be offered the bid system) and ask how much it would be to upgrade. That way you can decide whether to do it now and have peace of mind. You can also choose a cabin in a good location that won’t be affected by noise etc. I’ve no idea whether the conservatory part of the mini suite can be used for sleeping. I presume that it can, it would be daft if it couldn’t, but best to check! Finally, if the price difference is too great and you decide to bid, I would strongly advise you to bid £530 per person and not the minimum £520 (as far as I know, you pay double the bid price regardless of number of cabin occupants). As the minimum bids aren’t particular bargains, everyone seems to bid the minimum and not a penny more. If you bid more than the minimum (even if just a tenner - assuming that it allows you to) then I think you’d be almost certain to be successful.

I would have assumed that it was a joke, but Molecrochip had said that he had complained!

In terms of getting a table for 2, it will make no difference whatsoever whether you booked a Select fare or Saver, as Arvia is 100% Freedom dining. The extra cost restaurants will open for booking 14 days before the cruise. If you pre-book them you should be fine. Reports indicate that some of the restaurants are sold out if you leave it until you are on board. P&O are now enforcing boarding times at Southampton, which can result in long queues for those who arrive early, but if this is a fly cruise you won’t be affected by that. Personally, as the net difference after OBC is only £240, I would book Select so that you can choose your cabin and avoid those that may be affected by noise disturbance. Also, the relatively small price difference may also get you some other benefits.

I know that these TV types aren’t always the brightest of folk, but what does he expect when disembarking a cruise ship with thousands of passengers? Perhaps he thinks he’s so important that his cases should be on a plinth under spotlights so that he doesn’t have to search for them like us mere mortals? 😂

Andy - In addition to the Limelight Club, have you clocked that theatre shows (Headliners etc) are bookable through the Cruise Personaliser? I thought they’d stopped the need to pre-book on all but Iona and Arvia, but one of the many emails that I have had about the cruise mentioned it. I almost missed it as I’ve had so many emails! All now booked, but unfortunately no option to select ‘wheelchair user’ 🙄

No worries. Thanks anyway. Good to hear that waiters are proactively offering extra veg. Not so good to hear of your experience on Britannia. We are on her in a few weeks time, so hopefully things have improved.

Perhaps now may not be the best time to confess that when I asked about double deserts I was meaning a pud followed by cheese 🤣. All looks lovely though. Fingers crossed, in just two weeks time we will have had our first dinner in Epicurean since Covid (on Britannia). It’s a 2 week cruise so I’m hoping that we can experience both menus - maybe multiple times 😂

Delighted to hear that Freedom Dining is operating how it should. Two questions re the MDR. Did you pick up from other passengers whether those who dined much later than you (8/8.30pm) also had no waits to be seated? Also, how did you find the MDR food on the casual nights (choice, portion size etc)? Thanks. P.S. Just goes to show that all the excuses as to why they cannot prepare dishes table side in Epicurean on Iona are hogwash, as we expected.

The docks seem to cover a vast area. I’m surprised that anywhere is within a short walk, let alone anywhere half decent?

I have asked for the ‘sharing platters’ before (just for me) but they have often served me a half portion, which defeats the object 😂 I would have asked for ice cream to go with the Summer Pudding as well, but is that mint choc chip? 🤮 😂

Oh no. Not the B word Andy. Some people get very agitated on this forum when that word is mentioned 😂

It’s Indian Fusion (if that makes sense). Not 100% to my taste (I prefer the Indian / Bangladeshi curries we get here and used to get in the P&O MDRs at lunchtime) but my wife and daughters really like it and the service and ambiance are both very good.

Ray Quinn and Joel Harper Jackson. The cruise before ours is Kevin Simm. All singers. I am hoping that La Roux will be on Iona when we are on her in August. Apparently it’s a good act and our daughters would enjoy it (as we might also - a change from the usual talent show failures 😂).

I’ve just double checked my Cruise Personaliser for our forthcoming cruises. As mentioned, on Britannia we can only pre book the Limelight Club. On Iona, it looks as though we will be able to pre book Epicurean, Sindhu, Olive Grove and The Beach House, as well as the Limelight Club. On Ventura, it now looks as though we might be able to pre book Epicurean, Sindhu and the Beach House! I am basing the above on those that say ‘Coming Soon’ (which seems to refer to those where bookings open 14 days before the cruise), rather than those showing as ‘please enquire on board’ (which clearly can’t be pre booked).

It seems as though the current system allows pre-cruise booking for speciality restaurants on Iona and Arvia, but not on Britannia (other than Limelight Club) and presumably not on the other ships either.

I can live without Claire Sweeney, having been a little underwhelmed by her in the Limelight Club, but I shall add most of the other things to our packing list. That’s the great thing about round-trip cruises from Southampton - no total weight limit on luggage 😂

We are on the same cruise and have only been able to book the Limelight Club. We will have to book the rest on board. Shame really, as the early booking discount is much appreciated, plus you the get any loyalty discount deducted on top of that. By booking on board you get no early discount and your On Board Credit gets used first, so no loyalty discount either. Would have much preferred to be able to pre-book and pre-pay all speciality restaurants, leaving the OBC for our drinks bill 🤪

Bars of soap get messy, so I would actually see the provision of a liquid soap dispenser as an enhancement rather than a cut back 🤔

I have always found the statement to be correct, but P&O have a habit of adding small sums after the cruise that people know nothing about. This has been discussed previously on this forum. It is usually a ‘mini bar’ item that the steward has reported as missing when servicing the cabin for the next guest. As we never use the mini bar and ask for the contents to be removed, we have phoned and queried it and it’s been refunded, but I suspect that a lot of people don’t and it adds up to a tidy sum. Hopefully this dodgy practice has ceased, but when it was last discussed quite a few of us had experienced this.

I have the same price cut off as you now for P&O (£100 pppn) but that’s for a balcony cabin on a Select basis. As I say, I’ve managed to bag a few well under that, even recently, so keep looking as you might be pleasantly surprised 🤞

An excellent review as always. Many thanks. I think we will give this a go. As you say, we prefer to eat later on a cruise and would like to see the fjord from our balcony, so your info on when the ship is leaving the fjord is very useful and will help our timings. A window table becomes less important then as well. For what it’s worth, I agree with you about acceptable (and unacceptable) dress for Epicurean. When we were having breakfast in there one chap used to turn up in a garish football shirt. I think that’s tacky and disrespectful to other diners. Others won’t agree but, as you say, we are all entitled to our opinions 😉

I’d forgotten about Pacific and Atlantic tiers!

I would also think it was an error, unless they allocate the first couple of hours after suite and higher loyalty tiers to Mediterranean tier (which, as you say, will be a very large proportion of passengers) before they open it up to the rest. It would be a bit tenuous to call that ‘priority’ but better than nothing I guess. Our daughters would be pleased!

I’m out and about, but tried the first one on my iPhone and it downloaded fine. This will be extremely useful in determining the best times for dinner reservations (on the assumption that it will be virtually the same for our cruise). Once again, sincere thanks.