jh1809

To answer my own question, I've just done a web search and found: "Which accounts come with travel insurance? Our Silver bank accounts come with European travel insurance. Our Platinum and Black bank accounts come with Worldwide travel insurance." So the account I have doesn't qualify.

Not to worry. After all, they are both NW. 🙂

I have a current account with NatWest and have done for years, but I was unaware that they offered travel insurance. They've certainly never mentioned it to me. Perhaps it's only available with certain types of account?

I can beat both of those: 122 weeks.

Noble Caledonia are very good but very much on the expensive side. They have only two small ships of their own, but do charter a few vessels as well.

I'm guessing that would be Neil Turnbull. In contrast, I really like him. Unfortunately I haven't had him since Aurora went adult-only, as he likes to have his family with him in the school holidays and I only travel on the adult-only ships (not because I object to children but because anything bigger would be too big).

The other day I uploaded a photo as part of the check-in process for my cruise departing on the 18th May. All went well, and I printed off my boarding card. A day or two later I decided that the photo wasn't very good and that I would replace it with a better one. So I clicked on Remove, after which the space for the photo was correctly empty, then clicked on Upload, uploaded my new photo and - once I had it positioned correctly - clicked on Save. After which it reverted to showing the old photo that I had supposedly removed! Several other attempts were exactly the same. I suppose it doesn't really matter since, if P&O don't think the photo is adequate, I'll simply be photographed at the terminal on the day, but it's still annoying.

Cunard wouldn't be happy. I suspect they have that already pencilled in for their next ship.

"Theoretically only Full Suites and Ligurian should have a 12.30pm boarding time , rest should have 1.00pm." I'm Caribbean and am in an "ordinary" outside cabin, but have been given a 12:30 boarding time for my cruise on Aurora sailing on 18th May. Maybe that indicates that there aren't so many passengers on that cruise in the higher loyalty tiers as one might expect?

Yes, it's because of that risk that - as I said - I try to avoid any food items such as rolls and toast that you have to eat using your hands.

My own guesstimate for Aurora and Arcadia is that using the hand gel dispensers on entry to the MDR is more like 80% of people, though one would like it to be 100% of course. It could be a lot lower on the bigger ships, though - I don't have any experience of those. I try to avoid the buffet and also avoid food that you have to use your hands for (including toast and bread rolls). I've been lucky enough so far never to have had norovirus on a cruise.

Thanks. I rang P&O this morning, and you were right that my dining choice appearing as Freedom was just an error on the booking confirmation. The P&O person told me it was correctly shown as Club on the system, and send me another (correct) booking confirmation. Since I had booked online direct with P&O, it's hard to see how the original incorrect confirmation could have been sent out, given that the process is wholly automated. That's 15 minutes or so of hanging on the phone that I'll never get back.

Thanks. As I said, I booked on-line on P&O's website, rather than using a TA, mainly because I'm something of a phone-phobic who hates using the phone.

I booked this cruise on P&O's website on the 16th, opting for the Select fare. I'm sure I asked for Club dining, but on the confirmation email that arrived the same day I've noticed that it says Freedom dining. I can't see anywhere on my cruise personaliser that would allow me to change it (even though I could change my bed configuration from queen to twin if I wanted to). Am I missing something, or will I have to undergo the palaver of ringing up P&O? Or, as it's hardly urgent at this stage, would emailing them get them to change it for me? If so, which email address should I use? I did wonder if perhaps they are planning to phase out Club dining on Aurora at some point before summer 2026 and if that might explain it. Has anyone heard any rumours?

To add to that, P&O's prices for wine by the glass are very fair, with a 175ml glass costing about a quarter the price of a 750ml bottle and a 250ml glass about a third of the price, rather than having a big mark-up as you sometimes see in restaurants ashore.