waddle

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

The only thing that makes whisky drinkable is a large dose of coke! (Don's tin hat)😉

Or the only thing that makes coke drinkable is a large dose of whisky 😁

36 minutes ago, david63 said:

Not necessarily.

 

All luggage going onboard is scanned so a lot will depend on the requirements that P&O/Carnival have with the port authorities. It would not be difficult to single out every case that had a large bottle in to then have the passenger go to security and explain what the bottle is. This happens now if there are any suspect items in the case as it has happened to me on more than one occasion - sometimes in the terminal and sometimes onboard the ship.

If my memory serves, this happened to us on a Princess cruise from Florida

You were allowed to take a bottle of wine per person (not spirits) at the start of the cruise so we purchased a couple in duty free and then put them in the cases prior to boarding 

When our luggage hadnt been delivered by 6pm we queried with the steward who told us we might be

on the ‘naughty step’ if our bags had been identified containing bottles. I had to go to the staff area to open the case and confirm it was just wine we had taken with us

13 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

Rap has a silent C for a reason

And the reason silent discos were invented ! 

25. Deckside whirlpools on Iona 

12 hours ago, Lucysnan said:

We saw Kevin Simm in the Limelight on Britannia in June last year. He was excellent, lovely voice and good rapport with the audience.

Agreed. We saw him on Iona last year

Very personable, great sense of humour as well as a good voice. We had a great night 

Classic drinks package would be borderline for you and the choice of cocktails is fairly limited unless you upgrade to the Deluxe

If you can find a deal including OBC you might find that would take care of a big chunk of your bar bill 

19 hours ago, Devon born and bred said:

I follow these threads with interest and was wondering, with all the problems/issues and negativity, why cruise with P&O.

Some people are just predisposed to moan. There might be 10 positive things but they will concentrate on the 1 negative

We have had a few minor issues/niggles on our P&O cruises but

I try to not let them ruin my holiday. Nothing yet has stopped me booking with them again

Much depends on if you are a half glass full or half empty person and my answer is it depends if I am on a drinks package or not ! 

In our experience it’s just a case of asking your waiter(s) for another glass rather than a top up. Never been an issue with the 15 minute rule in the MDR’s - you’ll probably find it takes that long for the next glass to arrive!

We usually take a glass in with us from one of the bars to get started

All the menus will also have the wines listed per package - Classic or Deluxe if you want to chose something different when the food arrives 

Which ship were you on? Apologies, couldn’t see it mentioned

We have sailed Eclipse (x2), Equinox and most recently Edge. We prefer the layout of their older fleet

I agree with your comments on the drinks package. On the Edge all the Martinis are priced at $17 + 20% gratuity! Given the Martini Bar is the focal point of the midship area, anyone on the Classic Package is effectively priced out of drinking there 

1 hour ago, happy v said:

This definitely wasn't the case for us

 If you have a booking from home you can transfer it without any further action.

If you cancel the money goes back on your credit card. If you book onboard you don't pay a deposit. Pay after you have eaten.

In our case one guest dropped out so we changed from a table of 5 to 4, definitely told we had to cancel and rebook. Guess in those circumstances they treat it differently 

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

Thank you for the information regarding both Sindu and The Beach House.  Can I ask if a pre booking (made with CC) can be cancelled once on the ship, or if a date/time can be changed, subject to availability obviously?  If it can be cancelled, is the cost refunded to your CC, or to your on board account?

 

 

In my experience if you want to change the time/date of a booking once on board you will need to cancel and rebook (subject to availability). You will get a refund to your card on the advance payment made but then have to pay full onboard price (less any Penisular benefit) 

11 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Just to put my trotters into the debate, what actual use are pigs apart from bacon sausages chops etc etc etc.

Having watched quite a few gangster movies, I believe they do have uses in the ‘disposal’ arena 😶‍🌫️

2 minutes ago, david63 said:

The other side of doing that would, if my understanding is correct, mean that the cruise line would be processing many more charges to credit/debit cards which in themselves would incur more charges to Carnival.

Good point

If you consider a World Cruise with different time zones, international passengers with cards issued in different currencies, I suspect from a processing/accounting perspective bulking up transactions at the end of a cruise is much more cost and time efficient for the cruise line

There is a difference between the ‘available balance’ and ‘actual balance’, the former including any pre authorisation which depending on the merchant/card scheme can last for 30 days

Best practice with a credit card is to have enough headway/limit to cover 2 x monthly spend, particularly if you intend to use the card shortly after leaving a cruise

Similarly if a debit card is used which is linked to a bank balance, that account needs sufficient balance/overdraft limit to cover any expenditure once back onshore

In my experience cruise companies usually clear the pre authorisation with 5-7 days 

1 hour ago, FangedRose said:

No balloons now for environmental reasons.

And they’ve gone up with inflation 😅

3 hours ago, enjoysailing said:

 

 Having to queue to get a drink is not what I want to go cruising for. Even 'Spoons' has an App to order straight to the table. In fact it puts me off having a beverage package as I don't want to feel I am missing out as I can't get served.

If you sail on a Princess ‘Medallion’ class ship then you can order drinks on the app to be delivered to you anywhere on the ship (within reason). Waiters are able to find you with the tracking software in your medallion

I’m sure other lines probably do something similar but we found it quite innovative and convenient. For some reason I seem to have a face that is invisible to waiters/bar staff wherever I stand at a bar ! 

We’ve been twice on the Azura from Tenerife, Nov 22 & Jan 24 and enjoyed both trips

Slightly different itineraries although docked in Madeira on both cruises. Weather was great both times, particularly this January and most islands have enough to do just walking/shuttle off the ship

Just bear in mind with P&O I think there is always an overnight docking in Santa Cruz on the Friday so shops/casino out of action on your first or last night 

Don’t recall the pork dish when we were on in January but good choice of tapas, sharing platters etc

Be prepared to wait up to 30-45 minutes in the evening for a table although it’s worth it 

15 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

If I’m on a drinks package and want to enjoy a drink in my cabin, can I go to a bar and take it back there?  

How else can you enjoy a nightcap? 😁

22 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I also have £9pp per day showing.  When I added it to my basket it also gave me my loyalty discount.  Is that not normal then - I've never had one of these before!

Pre boarding that sounds normal

Anything you then want to change/book when on board will be treated as a brand new booking it would seem

On 2/24/2024 at 12:24 PM, debgreg said:

I think I am getting convinced to upgrade, from some posts I have read. It is £9 a day to upgrade on the website at the minute, does anyone know how much it is onboard ? 
also can anyone answer, the do they have lime cordial question 😊

Thanks 

Beware. We thought we could do this when we got on board but were told we had to cancel the classic package we had already paid for (and lose the 10% + Penisular discount) and pay the full on board price for the Deluxe

For 7 nights it would have cost us over £200 difference when we were expecting the £9 pp per day! 
 

Needless to say we stayed with the Classic and used our OBC for any drinks that weren’t included (for us just the odd cocktail and single malt whisky at the end of the night) 

Good on the staff in the Crow’s Nest enforcing the dress code. Pointless having one if it just gets ignored 

You can get bottles of fresh orange juice from the Costa Coffee stations on the Classic package

We’ve taken these with us to the buffet

When we ordered juice at breakfast in the MDR on Azura is was the standard stuff - tastes watered down. I guess we could have insisted on fresh but never asked

1 hour ago, solentsam said:

If i remember correctly there is a duty free in the port building to you right after you go through security. Was only there last month.

Yes, we were there end of Jan and there is a souvenir shop selling perfume and alcohol opposite the check in desks

I would recommend Penguin Parking

Used them from Ocean Terminal last year. Well located, pick up and drop off very efficient