cruise saint

Thanks. The photography is one area that has regressed badly since the pandemic. When we went to the Fjords last June on Britannia, in Olden the three photographers were too busy taking pics of each other to bother about the customers.

Are there currently photographers on board Aurora?

There are several advantages to booking Select fare, not least the free parking option. It's usually about £300-£600 more depending on the length of cruise (obviously more if you go on a very long cruise). But in my experience by the time you factor in parking, OBC etc you actually get a fair bit of that extra money back. There are obviously other cheaper parking options but I like the security and convenience of CPS.

Hello and welcome. Hope I can provide some useful information. The best place to park is CPS parking as it's the closest to the ship. However this means it's not the cheapest. We always book Select fare and take the free parking with CPS because it's a great service. Iona sets sail at 6pm but final boarding is usually 4.30pm. You will NOT be allowed to board after this time. About 2-3 weeks before your cruise yo will get your boarding time via your cruise personaliser. If you're travelling anymore than a couple of hours, I would suggest travelling down the day before. It's much more relaxing to arrive early and not have to worry about traffic problems. Where are you travelling from?

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I'm not too bothered if they use the virtual queue tbh. I just think the MDR worked better on Britannia before it was introduced.

You would worry about a sunbed? I take it they get snapped up quickly?

In November we will be on Aurora to Portugal and the Canary Islands. It will be our sixth P&O cruise but our first time on Aurora. (4x Britannia, 1x Azura). We do not fancy trying to bigger ships (they appear far too crowded for us). Aurora looks much more our cup of tea. I have a few of questions: Is it correct that there is no virtual queue for restaurants on Aurora? Is it easier to get a sunbed? How does embarkation compare to the bigger ships?

The question for me would be does it include cruise cover? A lot of holiday insurance provided through bank accounts doesn't.

We've never done B2B, but I would call CPS. I've called them before on other matters and they are always very friendly and helpful.

When we booked our very first cruise, the travel agent advised us to book a cabin as close to the middle of the ship as possible. It was good advice and something we've done ever since. (I should mention we always book a balcony cabin). You get less movement and tend not to be too close to entertainment venues/bars etc. Our first cruise was on Britannia and our cabin was D411. We have sailed on Britannia another three times and sailed in D411 twice more. The last time we sailed on her, D411 was already booked so we booked the cabin next door, D407. It's about as central as you could get and I would certainly recommend it. As for which side of the ship, I'm not sure it matters that much in the Med. However if doing a Fjords cruise, I would try to find out which way round the ship docks in Olden. Purely because we love the friendly sailaway there.

Muster, a drink in an open deck bar and then go to cabin and unpack if the luggage is there. Then a wander round the ship. We like to be on our balcony with a drink for sailaway, absolutely love sailing down Southampton water. Then dinner, a drink and a fairly early night so we're ready for an early rise on the first sea day.

All of this strengthens my resolve not to sail on the bigger ships. We've cruised five times with P&O, four times on Britannia and once on Azura. Even the last cruise on Britannia, a ship we absolutely loved, we noticed that dining had become much more chaotic. To the point we probably won't sail on her again and it's hard to say that. However, our next cruise is on Aurora and it appears it's a much more relaxed experience. We are very much looking forward to it. As others have said, a holiday should not require the level of planning that appears to be required on Arvia and Iona. I should add that we must shoulder some of the responsibility for our last Britannia cruise. Being Scottish we forgot about the English school holidays and it was a fourteen day Med cruise with a lot of kids aboard. While we have nothing against kids, it was very apparent that a lot of parents were willing to allow kids to roam freely and while most kids were OK, one group of teens in particular were very obnoxious in the first week. (Not sure if their families were spoken to as didn't see them in week two). In short, I think we'll avoid the mega ships and stick to the smaller ones in future.

What cruise were you on in June? We were on her to the Fjords on 2nd June and had a fantastic cruise. It was our fourth time on Britannia and we've always enjoyed being on her.

Surely they wouldn't do it if it wasn't necessary? Making people queue just because passengers have to for boarding a different ship on a different day at a different terminal? That would be terrible customer service, not to mention they'd be stopping people spending money on board.

That's the main reason for us travelling down the day before, unforeseen circumstances like accidents. Even on the morning of the cruise we tend to leave the Premier Inn at 7.30ish to avoid traffic. It means we're in Southampton very early, but I'd rather that than get stuck in traffic around lunchtime.

No, we've only ever sailed P&O. Driving to Didcot usually takes me about eight hours including a couple of 30-45 minute breaks. We usually leave at 6am the day before the cruise to get past Glasgow before the rush hour. Stop at Gretna services for breakfast. This allows Manchester area rush hour to pass before we get there. Second break at Stafford services and then take the toll road to avoid Birmingham. Usually get to Premier Inn about 1.30-2pm.

We drive from Perthshire but I wouldn't try to do it on the day of the cruise. Usually stay the night at Premier Inn in Didcot and have an hour to drive in the morning. Close enough to take an alternative route in the event of traffic jams.

Do you have far to travel home? We've never done self disembarkation, mainly because we're from Perthshire and usually travel to the Lake District for an overnight stay before finishing the journey the next day (When we come off Britannia on 9th June we've actually booked a cottage in the Lakes for a second week's holiday😁). I like to have breakfast on the ship before heading North.

I haven't got the time to report all of them. I just don't frequent these groups anymore, I get my info/advice from you much nicer people on here😇

There's some really awful people on some of those P&O Facebook groups. They only seem to sign in to be rude and aggressive.

If they do sell off the smaller ships and replace them with more mega ships, I could see a major shift in the P&O customer demographic.

I'd be more inclined to just get on with my holiday. I go on a cruise to relax. While I have experienced small issues with boarding on occasion, I've never found staff to be deliberately making the experience worse or being lazy enough for me to complain.

It actually isn't an app, it's a web page which is only available through the ship's wifi. The link for it is given to you either with check-in paperwork or in the paperwork in your cabin (can't remember exactly). You don't have to use it for dining, but it does help and is easy to use and actually very useful. As for sharing taxis, I would think that using a taxi in Norway is very expensive even if sharing. Sharing taxis is more common in the Mediterranean and Caribbeann. You don't have to take the official tours on any cruise but I would recommend some of them in Norway.

Yes, you can drop your luggage and wander back into Southampton.

Plug sockets are UK. Yes, you book tables on the app. Although you can just turn up at the MDR. If they can't seat you straight away they'll give you a pager. Muster is on your cabin TV. You attend your muster station when you board and have your boarding pass scanned.