GOQ

I wonder, I am still waiting for my cabin allocation for the January 6th cruise, I have an image of a guy with a clipboard examining each cabin followed by a fellow pushing a trolley loaded with bedding. "Right Fred this one's got a bed and the toilet works, set it all up and put it on the ready list". Hope they do mine next. Seriously it must be a bit of a logistics problem to get 2610 cabins initially set up with all the needed contents. Really looking forward to this one, the maiden transatlantic.

I couldn't see anything on my onboard account so I just booked my replacement cruise through my account assuming an extra £100 on board credit would be applied to the booking, It was not. Oh dear, phone up P&O I suppose.

I have booked an Early Saver fare for the K301A cruise next month however no cabin has yet been allocated and the check in page states: “Your cabin will be allocated when you join us on board” What do I do about luggage tags, since I will be taking the Intercruises coach down to Southampton, how will the coach driver/P&O know where to deliver my case?, a bit of a worry. A friend of mine had her cases delivered to the wrong ship last summer so P&O had to sort her out with some clothes for the voyage, so she was not very impressed with P&O. Also I have only previously cruised with P&O to/from Southampton, this time I will be returning from Barbados to Gatwick by air. I have my flight details and seat number but there is no mention of flight boarding passes anywhere, there doesn't seem to be any option to download them. How do I get boarding passes for the return plane journey?

I am booked on the January TA cruise with an Early Saver fare, I have checked in online but have still not been allocated a cabin. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference there is internally between Iona and Arvia. I quite liked Iona but I did find the decor a bit harsh and clinical, a bit like a shopping mall. Hard surfaces, lots of glass, metal and marble.

At last I have found a couple of possible alternative cruises to replace my cancelled B315. The cancellation email states "As a further apology for this cancellation, we’d like to offer the first two guests booked in your cabin £100 per person on-board spending money if you choose to book any alternative 2023 holiday before the end of December 2022." If I book a replacement June/July 2023 holiday this week how do I get the offered £100 on-board spending money. Thanks Paul

From a beer point of view there were far more draught beer real ales available on Iona. Arcadia had a good stock , but they were mainly bottled beers. No draught IPA on Arcadia... awful 😉 Just my opinion .

Great, thanks very much, I will do as you suggest. Thanks

Hi So far I have only taken P&O cruises from Southampton so have never been on a fly/cruise with P&O. When I have done a fly/cruise with Marella they supply a phone number/ web address link to request boarding assistance to the aircraft. Can anyone suggest how I request assistance for boarding a TUI chartered flight via P&O, thanks. I am getting a bit older now and by the time I get to the check in desk I am usually in a bit of a distress. Thanks Paul

Thanks Waju and all you others who have provided advice. I have booked a Single Balcony cabin on D deck. I was trying to decide between a double or single balcony when the price of the double balcony (solo occupancy) went up and the single balcony didn't. The difference became £350 so that decided me. Thanks

I was on Ventura crossing the Bay of Biscay last November during some stormy weather. I was out on the promenade deck when I noticed the ship listing heavily to Port, the captain came on the tannoy system announcing they were having some engine problems so were doing an engine restart, the ship then became stable. I was again crossing the Bay of Biscay on Iona last February during the weekend following the big storms which shut the railways down. There were no problems with Iona, a lot more stable than Ventura under the same conditions, but it creaked a lot.

Am image flashed through my mind from the film Alien where they cut the finger of the Alien and it's blood dissolves through the floor and all the lower decks. Sorry. 🤐

Megabear2 you have hit the nail on the head for me with this comment: I have a number of arthritic problems but when I am not in pain I walk quite well. I usually walk a mile on the prom deck before breakfast each morning and do visit the gym, so might look quite fit. However I do have a balance problem caused by the arthritis and without a walking stick I can fall, stumble and collide with other people and fixed objects. But I can use the exercise bike and rowing machine in the gym because they are sitting down exercises. I do have limited motion in my left arm but I CAN use the rowing machine. So I am acutely aware and feel quite embarrassed that people might think me a fraud if they see me wobbling around the ship on a stick, getting the disabled seating in the theatre, being helped onto the tender and taking the crowded lift for only one floor, after seeing me do a mile around the deck or using the gym. Generally though people are quite helpful. I just hope they don’t think I am drunk. I’ll have to get a Tee Shirt printed "I'm not drunk, just wobbly".

I am considering a cruise on Aurora for the first time next year as a solo traveller. Looking at the deck plan the single balcony cabins are on D deck aft near the terrace pool, it looks like they actually open out onto the terrace and I have read on the Net that they have steel fronted balconies. Any advise on this? Perhaps it might be better for me to choose a standard balcony cabin. Are there any standard balcony cabins I should avoid, would leaving cabin location to chance with an Early Saver Fare be OK, or should I choose a Select fare? TIA Paul

Thanks for the report, the Aurora is definitely on my cruise list now.

Last February Iona was several hours late docking at Southampton, my allocated disembarkation time would result in my arriving home very late and possibly missing my train, so I elected for self disembarkation. So did everybody else it would seem, with the resulting confusion and chaos it took well over an hour of queuing to get off the ship. But they did try, even the captain was helping manage the queues. He spotted me dragging my suitcase with one hand and with a walking stick in the other, he pulled me out of my queue and said “As you are on a walking stick sir, please join the “family with children queue”, which was slightly shorter.

I suppose you might expect everyone to be a bit stressed out and apparently thoughtless on a crowded disembarkation day, and it might be quite disruptive to empty a lift to accommodate a wheelchair passenger, so everyone will just stay put. It works both ways too, I am in my early seventies, walk with a walking stick and have some difficulty dragging my suitcase/hand luggage around. On one of my recent cruises a couple, wheelchair user and his wife, boarded an empty lift in front of me. I asked if there was room for me, No she said and shut the lift door.

Thanks all. I've booked a select fare on this one and have been looking forward to Tromso.

I am off to Norway on Arcadia in a few weeks time. On checking the ports on "whatsinport" the port schedule states Arcadia will be docking in the Breivika dock at Kai24 which is 4Km north of Tromso City. Do you know if P&O will provide a shuttle bus service at this port? TIA Paul

I have received extra OBC for 2 of my 3 cruises next year but nothing for my October cruise in 3 weeks time.

I currently have 3 P&O cruises booked for next year, I have £200 obc for the first, £150 for the second and nothing for the third. Puzzled ???

I have just had the very same experience on Explorer last month Dave. I had cabin 4053 and was woken up about 2AM every morning by a noise that sounded like a bag of rocks grinding together. I eventually got moved to cabin 4028 on the other side of the ship. However that cabin also had another mysterious noise occurring at 6:30 AM every morning, but as I am an early riser it wasn't a problem, a bit like an alarm clock.

On the Ventura library the book cases were kept locked, I had to peer through the glass to select my books and then ask the library person to open up the case and provide me with the books. On Iona the book cases were left unlocked for me to choose the books directly. What is the procedure for choosing books on Arcadia ? I am looking forward to my first cruise on Arcadia in a few weeks time.

Thank you from Me too, very useful info. I will be doing this one next year. Thanks

Yes two weeks is what I understood. I ordered my test 10 days before travel, no problems, tests arrived in plenty of time.

Yes it does seem to work quite well. My late wife as the lead passenger booked us both a P&O cruise 13 years ago. When recently I started cruising with P&O again I was given a new (My Own) account number and remarkably the 70 points previously earned as Portunus club points were automatically credited to my account as Peninsular points. Presumably they identified me from my surname and address, found my wifes' account and transferred the points to my new account.