AndyMichelle

It's very easy. 

There is a portakabin opposite the ship, next to the pub. 

Walk in, buy tickets (£58 each last week) get on blue bus waiting outside, run every 15 minutes. 

So straightforward, even when P&O is sold out. 

Have a great time. 

Andy 

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Cunard

Apparently they are following suit. 

19 minutes ago, Photo Andy said:

Thought I would bring you all up to date. It is Sunday night and we are back in UK at home. 

Eventful final few days.

Wednesday in Alesund, we walked up Mt Aksla with many people from P and O Iona and an Aida ship. The footpath was very busy,  I took my camera / tripod images of Alesund  but not from the cafe as it seems permanently closed. Walked back down into the town and fell off a pavement and injured myself up, mostly my right hand knuckles, deskinned and bloody, avoided any facial injuries, a quick check and nothing seemed broken. Back on ship cleaned up, then back out into Alesund to buy some dressings, tape and scissors. (I used to work in the NHS doing tissue viability so self dressing is not a problem). Have you ever tried to pass through ship security with a pair of scissors longer than 40mm? They looked at the dressings we purchased, the tape and my bloody fingers etc. They allowed the scissors on board but we could not open the packet until in our cabin and could not take them out of the cabin. We were meant to have a pm cruise on a fjord but just did not feel up to it. 

Thursday - heavy rain, fog and 35mph wind and the ship had 2 attempts to enter Haugesund but no luck. On the upside we were refunded our excursion money. 

Friday, packed, had a table for dinner at the Keel and Cow, lovely meal, clean plates. 

Saturday, our disembarkation time was 8-55am, in the car and on the way home by 9-30am. 

This was a great holiday, the hand injury was my fault, but Iona was excellent, food, crew, venues etc. Missing a port excursion seems to be an issue in Norway, just stay cool and enjoy the ports you can visit.

BW

Derek.     

Welcome home Derek. 

Glad you had a great time, despite the setback.

Hope all heals up quickly. 

Surprised to hear the cafe is closed at Alesund, it seemed to be doing great business when we went a while back. 

Thank you for reporting in, feedback like yours helps a lot of people and we enjoy following along. 

Andy 

2 minutes ago, Ilovemygarden said:

Exactly.  I cannot understand how P and O’s new policy has stirred up so much angst!

Well, 558 replies and over 25k views says it must mean a lot to some people. 

9 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

My local pub has a decent bottle of Chenin, Pinot Grigio or shiraz for around £15. Beers like Stella are £4.30 a pint, Moretti £4.60. Cheaper beers are £3.50.

 

Food is £10.25 for a large portion of fish and chips (£8.00 for pensioner portion). Fahitas are £10 for veggie, £12 for chicken and £13 for steak. Steak pie etc around £10.
 

 

That shows the divide. 

No pints under a fiver down here, except 'Spoons', Peroni £6.20. 

Any meal in a decent pub is around £18, even a burger. 

A steak starts now about £20, a decent cut nearer £30.

Large cod & chips, take away from the chippie is over a tenner. 

Andy 

Our local pub wine list. 

You connoisseurs will tell me if this makes P&O expensive? 

Our nearest comparison was a bottle of Zinfandel Rose on board was £25, £26.50 here. 

Andy 

1 minute ago, vitrocmax said:

 

 

Thanks for your messages, apparently the A34 is closed so we'll be having to use the M25 which had already added some extra time to the journey. 

The coach is comfortable and my wife is watching the football on SkyGo.

We've booked an early dining spot in the Olive Grove so we won't have much time to explore before dinner. Got a front facing cabin up on deck 14 so that's going to be interesting.

Have a fantastic time. 

Andy 

2 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

On our recent Arvia cruise there was always someone at the MDR entrance holding hand wash. I never saw anyone walk past without taking it. 

Same on Britannia, but we did see a Japanese guy refuse the hand sanitiser, but he was the only one. 

The bigger worry for me was in the toilets. Lots of men do not wash their hands... 

31 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Apart from the opinion this is a step too far for those who want to bring alcohol onboard and say its therefore a deal breaker, have any of the defectors checked prices and terms on all these supposedly better cruise lines?  If so may I ask which lines and how they compare price wise and rule wise?  To be fair it would be interesting ti say price a 7 night Fjords cruise in a balcony and a 14 day Mediterranean in an inside cabin.

 

Anyone want to take the challenge?

Not quite taking on your challenge MB, I am not that brave... 😊

But I have been comparing like for like for 7 nights Fjords next year and there isn't much between P&O, Princess and Cunard, if you take into account the expected better experience. 

Our balcony, select fare, same cabin as this year on Britannia is £350 dearer then we paid this year, with slightly less obc. 

Princess, including Plus, was obviously dearer, but if you take into account what we spent on board and if we used the WiFi, there was about £100 difference. (I would definitely drink more) 😂

Iona was slightly higher than Britannia, but had better ports (Flam). 

I know the bargains can still be found, but I think they are getting less and less on the popular cruises. 

Andy 

1 hour ago, S1971 said:

 

I agree Andy, but we can add that ethos to everything in life.

 

The overall impression they are giving me is of greed and profiteering.

 

People are not naive enough to know that they are a profit making business, but there has to be a line in which it stops, that line has been crossed for me at least.

 

The difference pre covid to what it is available now is considerable, so many small things have been removed, alongside reduced menu, bar increases, reduced cabin services, less staff so slower service, this alongside other things already mentioned on this thread.

 

When all things are taking into consideration I don't feel they now offer good value for money, more especially on the older adult only ships.

 

P&O used to be a quality product, now it's nothing other than ordinary and basic.

 

I fully appreciate that this is only my opinion and others won't agree, but when I read through this thread again and noted all the changes and the inability to deal with some serious bad behaviours, I don't feel P&O suits my need anymore.

 

Great thread by the way, thanks for starting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totally agree with all you say. 

It is nothing like the pre covid offering, but a lot of the cuts haven't really affected my ability to have a good holiday, but I drastically have to adapt my expectations. 

We are looking elsewhere and have Cunard booked, but as you have pointed out, things are changing there too. 

P&O still offer enough for me to have a good time, at the moment... 

The bigger worry for me is that like for like prices are creeping up, whilst standards continue to drop. The argument of being so much cheaper is diminishing. 

We did see a few instances of not great behaviour, but there is still thousands of lovely people having a great time without offending anyone. 

Andy 

6 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

I don't think £7.50 for a cheese toastie sounds like a very signature dish to me!!

I agree it doesn't sound like a signature dish, you don't have to buy it though... 

The MDR on Britannia offers a signature 3 course meal for £14.95, it didn't look very inspiring, so we didn't buy it. 

It took nothing away from the included menu, and it seems like the Golden Lion is the same. 

These are not things that used to be free, at least not in recent history. 

Ice cream is not included on P&O, but many buy it. 

Is Costa Coffee 'premium'? 

Like everything on this thread, we have choices to make, and always have... 

If we don't like it, we know what to do. 

Andy 

Portsmouth to Southampton is an easy journey with a few alternative routes, so no real worries there. I would allow about an hour. 

Be careful not to assume all hotels with a PO postcode are in Portsmouth, you could easily end up on the Isle of Wight... 

A suggestion for parking. Get hubby to drop you, the kids and your bags at the port and park in West Quay car park. It is a few minutes drive and 10-15 min walk back, costs £6 per day. You take your ticket with you, there is a barrier and pay when returning to your car. 

If you have the budget, the Loen skylift is worth doing. Exploring the snow covered mountains, going inside a real Igloo and messing about in the snow is great fun. 

Have a fantastic time. 

Andy 

10 minutes ago, S1971 said:

 

My apologies I missed this part of your reply.

 

"There was a shuttle bus and though it said it was the official P&O shuttle it was £5.50 each"

 

Taken from another ongoing P&O thread.

 

This is at Haugesund, which is only a 950m walk into the town, so for many, and in P&Os eyes, a shuttle bus is not required. 

The problem is, it's over a steep bridge, which obviously causes issues for some. 

I didn’t think the shuttle bus was anything to do with P&O, but I may be wrong. 

I don't see this one as a cutbacks, as I don't believe it was ever offered free, but again, I could be wrong. 

Andy 

6 hours ago, Funboy said:

I have not been thrilled by Haugesund on my two visits. This last time we faced an hour or so walk into the city(we are both 76). There was a shuttle bus and though it said it was the official P&O shuttle it was £5.50 each. Because of the distance there should have been a free shuttle as P&O sometimes provide. On our next visit we will not bother leaving the ship.

 

Yes, we struggled to get ' Grandad' over the bridge, so he got the bus back. 

Fortunately I am able, so managed to have a fantastic walk out to the lighthouse then a nice coffee in an independent bakery. 

I agree though, the town is uninspiring. 

Andy 

2 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

Glad to see P&O are thinking if the planet by removing disposable cups, at least you can BUY one of theirs. 

Unless this has changed as well since last week, you can and they do encourage you to bring your own reusable cups and are happy to fill them. 

Obviously this is only for take aways, you still get a 'proper' cup if you drink in. 

Andy 

11 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Such a shame. There was a mini heatwave there last Thursday!

And Wednesday when we were there. 

It made all the difference in Haugesund as last year the weather was miserable and didn't really take to the place but saw it in a completely different light in the sunshine. 

Andy 

Do I still need to wear black tie😂

28 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

I think it seems really variable: I found that the Sky Princess was £200 (total) more than the same week on the Iona, but that was with Princess Plus and a better balcony cabin. In effect it made the Princess cruise cheaper for more. But, other times I have priced it up and P&O are noteably cheaper. It seems to be that Princess are cheaper than P&O during the school holiday weeks, and then at othet times it's roles reversed 😂

We compared 2 nearly identical Fjords cruises for next year on Britannia and Princess. 

Obviously Princess was more expensive as it included Plus, but adding on what we spent this year on Britannia, P&O were still a couple of hundred pounds cheaper. 

Obviously we would get WiFi etc on Princess that we didn't have or need on Britannia. 

I think it seems a very fair price and I would have a go at drinking that extra £200😂

From reports, that is not that big a difference for what sounds like a better offering, so we will give it a go. 

Andy 

2 minutes ago, Clodia said:

As I bought a bottle last week I'm taking it on. As they haven't emailed any policy change I shall plead innocence. In future it's buy room service or my faithful rum runner. They used to be undetectable but scanners are getting more sophisticated. If stopped I will be suitable surprised and then outraged at their appalling communication. The worst they can do is confiscate then lose it, which is why they stopped taking onshore purchases as it caused so much trouble.

Have a great time, with or without your bottle. 

Andy 

1 hour ago, Paulant said:

We're going in August, can't wait but I'm worried we might end up on deck 8.We booked an early saver with upgrades.

Bit inexperienced in cruising but our first P&O cruise last year was amazing so hopefully this isn't ruined with a rubbish cabin location.

It is a chance you take, but we have had a few saver fares on other ships and mostly been good. 

You may be lucky, but I'm sure you will make the most of it. 

You are still at sea, being fed and entertained, I just hope you can get a good night's sleep. 

Andy 

33 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

After reading the great debate on, should we ever cruise with P&O again because they have removed our god given right to take alcohol onboard, I must remember to stock up on more nibbles.

If they ban mini cheddars, all hell will break loose in my house😂

5 hours ago, Ardennais said:

I heard that Tom Cruise was there yesterday! 

I bet that caused a stir in Olden. 

They wave flags and sing when I go😂

4 minutes ago, S1971 said:

So yet another policy P&O have no intention of enforcing.

A lot of us will start to abide by the rules, even if not checked, so already a significant reduction, which is probably their real intention. 

As you have said, the odd bottle won't make a difference. 

Andy 

13 minutes ago, kruzgal said:

We get around this by asking the cabin steward on the first day if they can leave us 2 sets of clean towels in the morning. It’s never been an issue. We don’t always use them but it’s nice to have them.

Yep, our 'Hyacinth' had extra towels every day, along with flannels, extra biscuits, ice, extra tissues, body lotion and God knows what else... 😊

Andy 

55 minutes ago, burnoutbabe said:

Hopefully going to book a norway cruise for next may with my 70year old parents.

 

Dad uses a walker, i did hear brittania is not good for lifts? as only up either end. Did that seem an issue when on board? ie long queues for lifts?

We had 'Grandad' with us, mid ship. 

The lifts can get busy as the stairs don't go above 7, but nothing that caused any issues, only a bit slow on disembarkation day. 

Lift etiquette was good, we would often shove grandad in while we used the stairs, like many others. 

Andy