topster5

Probably miffed because they got a medical bill!

I would say that "have you been on the ship before? / have you been on a cruise before?" is just an easy ice breaker. Certainly not a way of point scoring.

 

It's far more subtle than sitting down next to a stranger and asking them how much they paid and telling them you got a discount.

That would certainly be plain rude

They certainly used to try to 'match' passengers of similar profiles years ago (I recall the food and beverage manager explaining to me once how they did it), but I don't believe that it happens anymore. I think it's now pot luck.

 

My experience in more recent years has been similar to that described by Monorail Orange, hence why we switched to Freedom dining.

 

On our first cruise (Oriana 1996) we were considerably younger than the average age of passenger. It felt like 30 years younger and may well have been the case, yet we were seated with 3 other couples of similar ages. We all got on brilliantly and had a real hoot every evening. Dinner was the highlight of the day as we enjoyed each others company so much.

 

On the next cruise (around 10 years later) we were seated with older passengers but again really hit it off. We have bumped in to one of the couples on another cruise and enjoyed having lunch and a catch up with them.

 

Then things started going downhill. We started getting seated with families or couples with whom we had little in common and who seemed not to want to converse or found conversation with others beyond their party difficult. Dinner started to become a chore not a pleasure and something that I had previously looked forward to became something that I disliked. Since then we have switched to freedom dining and dined mostly on our own in order to avoid any potential awkwardness or having to answer the same 'how many cruises have you been on' questions. It's a shame really as you can meet some really interesting people, but I'm no longer prepared to risk it. You wouldn't dine with strangers in a restaurant ashore, so I don't feel the pressure to do it on my holiday.

 

Although more and more people are switching to Freedom dining, I do hope that P&O retains Club dining for those who prefer it. I certainly miss the personalisation that you get from having the same waiters each evening. Freedom dining service is, in our experience, impersonal and slightly rushed. But I've now had enough poor experiences not to risk switching back to Club dining.

I'm glad you mentioned that : 'How many cruises have you been on?' question. This has been vexing me for a while. WHY do people ask this, or subtle variations of it? ('Have you been on many cruises?') I personally wouldn't ask someone this. I would say we were probably asked this at least ten times on our most recent cruise in various scenarios on the ship. Is it a genuine conversational gambit, or a kind of point scoring, pecking order type of thing?

It makes me feel really uncomfortable to be asked this. I've even considered saying, 'I'm not really counting'.

I have been wondering whether anyone knows whether profile matching of any kind takes place when people are allocated a shared table for evening dining?

We have always had extremely positive experiences of our dining companions on tables of four or six, and wonder whether this is luck, or have we been matched in some way, however loosely, with people of a similar age or along some other criteria?

Reminded me to print my e tickets and have been given 3.30pm

 

Last time we had this late we aimed to get there for 2.30pm and got caught in problems on m25 and near and in Southampton and ended up arriving at 4.30pm and were last few getting on board.

 

Rather get to Southampton earlier, hand luggage in and have a walk around whilst waiting as too stressful arriving late.

Yes, that happened to us in April, due to traffic as you describe, we didn't get to the dock till 4:30pm despite having set out in good time. We were amongst the very last to board. Very stressful

I have got a spectacular black and white dress which sadly I cannot get into any more (too many cruises I suppose). So I usually wear a charcoal grey one I have got in a more forgiving fabric. But no one really minds what colour your dress is, as long as it looks smart on a formal night.

We are sailing on Britannia in November on a Caribbean cruise. We have never been on P&O before - only Royal Caribbean. I believe Royal Caribbean are a bit more relaxed when it comes to the dress code.

 

The OH is driving me mad with talk of her pink dress and whether it will be ok for a formal night. It is a lovely dress (so I am told) and she has worn it to several weddings and the races.

 

However it isn't just pink, it is PINK. The dress isn't too pink (as it is a little bit patterned with some other colours in it) but the cardigan thingy (bolero?) and the shoes are PINK.

 

The overall effect is PINK.

 

Everything we have seen (photos etc) re formal night seems to be a lot more subdued - blacks, blues etc.

 

So - should she take the PINK outfit or get something else?

Sorry - what colour was it again ?

No, I've just done a 'dummy' booking and that cabin we'd originally booked, D182, is still available.

The thing is, anyway, I really do prefer the look of the location of C196 anyway. Yes, it's overlooked, but the cabin will be brighter inside. Tony will just have to slap on the factor 50 :)

Anyway, I feel happier now they've changed it.

Good to know! We will be travelling on Arcadia for the first time in 2018.

Another plus point about the P&O cabins is the flat screen, wall mounted TV's with the content downloadable on demand. Much better than a set schedule as we have had on Cunard in the past

In my opinion, the quality of restaurant food and attention to detail on restaurant service is slightly better on Cunard. And on the buffet service there is a lot more variety and choice than on P&O. Although the food quality we found to be very good on P&O generally.

Also the entertainment facilities are better on the Cunard ships in that their theatres are big enough to accommodate all comers on each sitting, whereas occasionally on P&O we've not been able to get seated unless leaving the dinner table slightly earlier than we would have liked. Also I think the standard of entertainment in the theatres has been better overall, on Cunard.

Having said that, the ambience of the decor on the Cunard ships can be ever so slightly old fashioned with a lot of dark wood colours, although it's all a matter of taste. We haven't been on QM2 since they started the refurbishment of the staterooms, either.

We have been very impressed with the contemporary colour palette used on P&O. Also we think P&O presents better value at the moment. Cunard seems slightly overpriced in comparison.

I would certainly recommend P&O , although we also love Cunard. I would say if you like Cunard, you will like P&O. It's just that at the moment we seem to be getting better deals on P&O.

Hence why we've got three P&O cruises booked and only one Cunard.

Why would I as a Baltic member want to do my own washing? You don't have a dog and bark yourself!!!!:cool:

My husband says that about me when he wants to enrage me:mad:

Is there a known syndrome for never being happy with/ worrying about whether you have picked the right cabin !!!:o

Someone from P&O has just phoned and asked if I was happy with the aft cabin on D Deck Arcadia. I decided to switch to C Deck Aft !

Now, that's it. I'm not going to ponder it any more!

Not so sure about the laundry - I once paid for some laundry to be done and I think they put the whole lot through on a boil wash; everything came back discoloured and limp

We have just returned from a cruise on Emerald Princess as Elite level passengers where we really felt valued enjoying our 250 minutes each free internet, free mini bar (which can be swapped for coffee cards or water or non alcoholic drinks) , free laundry/dry-cleaning,10% in the shops, etc etc.

We will be on Arcadia next month as Baltic level passengers where really the only perk is 10% off the on board spend .....but only after any obc has been used up.

 

How much would it cost P and O to give free internet to higher level passengers????? I suspect nothing!

I agree. On Cunard we are Platinum and I think we get four fours of free internet each, per voyage. We do like to keep in touch with the family while away and would really appreciate it if P&O introduced such an internet package

Thanks for these inputs. I think we'll go with it. It does look nice and private. I think I would prefer not to be overlooked. Also my husband can't sit in the sun for any length of time due to his colouring.

Hi Val and Tony sorry to say we have never been on the Artemis. We must have doubles [emoji12]

 

 

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Lol. Well you didn't miss much! Happy cruising

This is why we started to move away from Cunard- just too expensive

We were in cabin D186 as Arcadia sailed through the Suez Canal. Absolutely fabulous being able to view both banks at the same time. The balcony was very long and the first part is sheltered by the balcony above. However if you stand right by the hand rail, you can be overlooked from above.

Would you recommend D deck aft, Princess? Did you find the cabin dark, or the balcony being sheltered by C deck a minus point?

Zippy 12, did you ever sail on the Artemis? you look familiar.... We are Val and Tony. We were all seated on a table with the ship's so-called 'comedian'; whom none of us liked very much.

Yes, I think they are pretty busy just now, it took me a while to get through on the phone and the poor lady sounded slightly harrassed

Excellent, well done! Only 2 years to wait now!! :):):)

Thanks, Princess!!

Two years will fly past! Happy days!!

I booked Arcadia 3rd Sept 18 last Thursday but am Baltic. I am sure there will be sufficient cabins left for the rest of you :)

Hooray! all that worrying for nothing! - I got my first choice cabin for J815 this morning!!

Just me then! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

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No, we've booked for October 2018, as it 'll be our Silver Wedding and we wanted to get the particular cruise we wanted organised well in advance. (I've sneaked over from the P&O forum - although we have done more cruises on Cunard in the past , than with P&O)

Oh, I know that, and won't be booking yet. Am just curious re the cruises they are doing and just enjoy the research side of things. Keeps me quiet :)

 

Having said that, each to their own and some folk may want to book early and may have a special occasions in 2018. P&O wouldn't be letting people book so early if they didn't think that people would book them now. I think they have lost out to other cruise lines in the past, like Celebrity, who have released their cruises much earlier than them.

Yes, we have a Silver Wedding anniversary in 2018 so wanted to be sure we got exactly the cruise we want, well in advance.