Waju

Thank you LouCD, am I correct in assuming the sofa transforms into a bed?

There has to be some sort of system otherwise it would be a free for all. If you thought you had a nice early check in time of 2pm, for instance, and everyone arrived at 1pm you probably wouldn’t get on till 4pm and everyone would be complaining! We usually arrive half an hour or so early to allow for traffic and/or parking delays and have never had a problem.

Thank you Britboys and molecrochip for your help.

I've just seen a video of cabin 17219 on Iona - it has a layout that looks like its two rooms - does anyone know if there are any other cabins with this layout?

We had one a couple of years ago while on holiday in New York - It was for a missing child - the alarm scared the life out of us but we thought it was a great idea, Neither of our phones got it today 😲 ps - LOVED your blogs and your smiley daughters are adorable! Are you still speaking to your MIL ??

I was on a long cruise on Aurora once and they did an offer of £25 for a cut and blow dry - the young girl did an excellent job, it was one of my best ever haircuts. On another occasion I had my nails done and the girl who did them said that although she did hairdressing she very rarely did anything other than wash and blow dry as everyone had their haircut before they went on holiday. She said she was quite ‘rusty’ at cutting!

We are extremely important Caribbean tier people and have a boarding time of 12.30, it also says priority boarding. We happen to have friends travelling with us but they’re in the lowest of the low tier yet they still have a 12.30 arrival time! Their boarding pass doesn’t say priority boarding though 🤪🤪 I never really worry too much as we always get on eventually 😊🍷

No it's not provided anymore - just shampoo, shower gel and hand soap. Sometimes, if you ask your cabin steward nicely, he/she manages to find one from somewhere 😉

Jean, we have a cabin in that area in a few weeks - do you get much noise from the theatre (after the 10.30 performance?)

I've seen another UK based cruise line recently offer a 120 day world cruise - I wonder what their passengers do?

We've seen severely disabled people on long cruises, I hate to think how much they have to pay in insurance.

I think it's bad they won't insure something that happened 18 years ago 😲 My friends Dad wanted to go to his nieces wedding in New York a few years ago and they wanted £5000 to insure him for 3 days because he'd had a stroke some years before - scandalous

There are lots of passengers who do the World Cruise year after year and I imagine due to the average age of them there must be lots with 'declarable' medical conditions. Hopefully someone will come along soon and tell us who they use for these very long trips. Have you tried UK Insurance Ltd through the Nationwide Flex Plus account?

We have a Nationwide Flex Plus current account (with a monthly fee) and travel insurance is included. The insurers are UK Insurance Ltd and you can buy extensions for the number of days, also an upgrade for the likely cost of a world cruise and an age extension if you are over 70. They are SUPER helpful if you call them.

I stand corrected! I thought 0044 was from anywhere - my apologies to the OP for the incorrect information - I will go and stand in the corner and give myself a good slap 😁

Sorry I can't help with the Heathrow question but I have never heard of excursions (or shore experiences as they are now known) on 'changeover' day. I think the 0344 number will work if you dial 0044 344 338 8003 Hope that helps, enjoy your cruise.

Bl**dy 'ell, I was halfway through reading this to my husband before I realised the date 😁

Me too, I’ll pack my spud gun 🤣

We met a recently bereaved man on a cruise and his story was very similar to yours. Such a lovely man who used to save us a sunbed in the mornings 😎 Anyway, this was his first cruise without his wife and he joined in everything going and was really surprised at how easy it was and much fun he had. He had his 'moments' and sometimes took himself off somewhere quiet and that's fine, that's how he coped. Strangely enough we don't do many cruises now that he isn't on! He's living his best life and although I never knew his wife I'm sure that's what she would have wanted. Good luck with whatever you decide - sometimes the first step is the hardest.

It makes me really sad you have to go through this. Your post is excellent - very well put x

Sorry, just realised where you're from! I suppose you just have to decide what's important to you then - cabin choice or £500 to £800 to spend on board. That amount would more than cover or bar bill as drinks are reasonable on P&O. Happy choosing, that's half the fun!

It does sound interesting. It could mean a little bit more revenue for P&O with the only extra cost being a little bit of admin. It costs the same to have the cabin cleaned whether it be an inside or a balcony and maybe just a bit more for a suite.

Just ask your agent to price both grades - we usually do that. It's easy enough then to work out if the difference is worth the extra money. As wowzz said parking in Southampton has become quite expensive, although there are cheaper alternatives if you shop around. Some cruises have a few port shuttles some have none - I suppose that's easily 'googleable' though. Just be aware that if the port is a working port the shuttle is usually free. Also, check the distance from the port to where you want to be as P&O have sometimes said its a 20 minute bus ride when its been an easy 10 minute walk!

I like Mercia, some nice shops. We live on the Derby/Nottingham border so not too far away. We had a canal boat for 5 days last year and only got as far as Willington but it was lovely. Yesterday was a really miserable day weather wise (I never left the house) but it's looking a bit better today. Have a lovely day!

What a good idea and it sounds like you had a lovely day! Was that Mercia Marina?