AndyMichelle

Hello, we're thinking of taking a cruise on the P & O Oceana, next April, when I was reading about the buffet, it wasn't very clear if there is a charge or not. On other cruise lines the buffet has always been free, can anyone tell me please, thank you. Carol.

Buffet and main dining rooms are free, there are ‘select’ restaurants that you pay extra for if you want to, but plenty of choice without paying extra.

Have a great time.

Hi, a related question. We have booked Aurora for a 5 night cruise in October, our first P&O cruise.

 

When do you get told the embarkation time and the time the ship leaves Southampton? So far we have the booking confirmation and "cruise booklet" but it does't give any timings. Is there another communication nearer the time?

Hi,

It seems to depend on what type of booking you have.

If it is a select fare, I think you find out 90 days before, effectively when you have to pay your balance. If it is saver fare, it can be quite close to the date you go. Keep an eye on your cruise personaliser. Embarkation is usually from 12.30 for select fare and suite passengers and later for the rest, although many turn up early and get on sooner than they should. Sailing times tend to be about tea time for Aurora, 5-6 O’clock ish. Have a fantastic time.

First cruise ever coming up and have been given our embarkation time of 12.30pm (is that because we are in a mini suite?). What should we expect/what do you all do once on board? May sound a silly question to all you who have done this many times ;p;p;p

You should be first on, arrive shortly before your time.

When on board, take pictures as it is the only time you will see the ship/cabin empty/tidy.

This is the time to start exploring as there won’t be many people around. Meet your steward and they will tell you all you need to know.

Hit the buffet early before the hoards arrive.

Sip a cocktail and enjoy your holiday.

Embarkation is very easy, don’t worry.

Andy

Hi all.... so we are going on our second cruise on Britannia in September. We last went to celebrate my mum and dad's 50th wedding anniversary.. sadly Dad passed away just before but we went any raised a glass to him.

 

 

We are going to celebrate my Dad's anniversary and notice that they have changed the booze rules. We like a tipple in our cabin and the last time we went off shore and brought back a couple of bottles.

 

 

I see they say they will take any alcohol off you on your return from port and keep it for you. Has any one noticed actual checks?

 

 

 

Also I see they have started charging for room service *tut* I have a colostomy following cancer (age 44 - DOH) and the last time we went I chose to eat in the room if I had a dodgy tummy... Can any one advise what times there is food available to pick up and take back to the room... I could ask my son to do it if my "little miss" aka stoma has a hissy fit and I have to stay in the cabin.

 

 

thanks all....

Hi,

We were on Britannia recently and they were checking for and confiscating alcohol at the ports to be returned when you get off.

As for room service, breakfast is still free and most other meals are only token charges, nothing seemed too expensive.

Grab and go sandwiches are available a couple of times a day, we were keeping a couple in our fridge for afternoon or late night snacks.

Nobody objects if you load a plate at the buffet and take it to your room, it seems common practice.

Here’s hoping you have a great time with no flare ups and get to raise plenty of glasses... enjoy.

Andy

We normally arrive quite late at Southampton the day before a cruise so just book a hotel in the centre and order room service. I searched and there was a good thread on here earlier this year with practical hotels for this kind of stay but this time I am looking for something different.

 

We are coming down in August but will be there much earlier in the day so I was looking for recommendations for a nice country house hotel with good food not too far out of the city. Something perhaps with a bit of local character.

 

I have looked at a couple on line but the reviews were not that great so personal local knowledge is probably better for a steer in the right direction.

 

Any suggestions?

Chilworth Manor is a good bet. It is Best Western but in a nice setting and easy access to the port. Food has always been good. There are some lovely hotels in the New Forest, but it can be a pig of a journey getting back in to town, Chilworth Manor will take about 15 mins.

Thanks for your reply. We would also prefer not to feel as though we are happy to be surrounded by screaming or unruly kids, but more so, the kids whose parents don't seem to give a damn.

If you don't mind me asking, which cruise in June are you booked on?

We are going on 21st of June to Spain and Guernsey. We are also booked on her in December this year, so will be able to see both sides of the refurbishment. We have been on Britannia, which we loved, but are really looking forward to a smaller ship.

I was thinking of booking a cruise on Azura for next year but since I posted my last thread, I am now looking at Aurora for June 2019.

I have just researched this ship and found out that it will be in for a refurb in April 2019 and will then become and adult only ship. Not sure if this will be a good move for us to cruise in June or not. We don't have any kids joining us so that wont matter but I also don't want to be on a ship where nearly all the other passengers are much older than me. No disrespect to the elderly but obviously it would be nice to have a few others on board of similar age or younger than myself and girlfriend. She is in her late forties and I am late fifties.

Hope that if we do book on her, we will still have a great time regardless of the demographics.

We are on Aurora in June, 49 and 53, seems a lot of people around our age are booking her, despite the cynics telling us nobody under 80 will be onboard. It is not a SAGA holiday and plenty of people who still have life in them are excited that she is becoming adults only. We are not anti kids, but just looking forward to not have to pretend we are happy sharing a lift with a screamer pressing every button!!!

Oceana from June 18

 

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Doesn’t seem like the prices are the same ship to ship. We were paying more than this on Britannia in May.

The lifts are there for everyone to use but I do think some passengers could show more common courtesy.

 

I also think it is important to remember that some people have invisible illnesses and conditions which are not obvious at first look. So please do not judge those who appear able-bodied for using a lift.

Good point well made... My wife has lung cancer but looks fine, you would not believe the comments we have endured... We still use the stairs wherever possible but on Britannia we were mid ship deck 8, so getting up to the Horizon on 16 at busy times was hard work. We gave up and had breakfast in MDR most days. The lifts on Britannia have a mind of their own. We spent many an hour laughing at people getting so stressed by it....

This won’t apply to you Kat, but a common one for men is cufflinks!!! Lots of formal shirts, no cufflinks..... Just enjoy it though, whatever you forget you will manage without

In Hamburg, there are several cruise terminals. You will need to check (google) the port schedule to see where you will be docking. However you will probably need a shuttle bus into the centre. We went to the Hamburg Christmas market last year on a Fred Olsen cruise, and thought it was excellent. We also went to the Miniatur Wunderland there which is simply amazing. You either need to book a time slot online several weeks before or else take a ship tour. It is so very popular.

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the miniature village, we will definitely try it now.

Thanks again.

We did a Cruise to Zeebrugge on Aurora last October but, thanks to Storm Brian, we never got there, nor was a substitute port provided, and we spent the day cruising up the East Anglian coast and back. It was a Cruise to nowhere! No compensation was offered, which I think was shortsighted on P&O’s part as we spoke to a number of first time cruisers who said ‘never again’.

 

We have (successfully) been to Zeebrugge and Amsterdam on Ventura. I recommend Martins Taxis from Zeebrugge to Bruges. I think it was €50 or €60 each way (total) there was just two of us but we still thought it was good value as they drop you adjacent to the central square, which buses can’t do and the bus and train station is a bit of a walk. Taxis must be pre booked as they cannot meet you at the ship. You get the free port shuttle (red from memory) to the port gates, not the P&O shuttle, which doesn’t go to Bruges- it goes to a seaside resort called Blankenberge.

 

As for Amsterdam, no shuttle bus needed as it’s a flat 10 minute walk to the centre. Very easy - and I was pushing a wheelchair.

 

One thing that I really enjoyed was the sail away from Amsterdam as you are going alongside lots of offices and apartments, all lit up and you see everyone having meetings, dinner etc. It reminded me of the Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window. Also, there is a sea lock between the canal and ocean, which was really interesting to watch our transit through.

Thank you for the advice.

Shame about your cruise to nowhere, we would be gutted as seeing different places is the main attraction for us.

Hopefully we will get in to Amsterdam, but I won’t be too disappointed if we divert to Brugge as have been before many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

In Copenhagen, you should go to the Tivoli Gardens, which has a Christmas market and is lovely with all the decorations. There won’t be a Christmas market in Amsterdam probably. We were there last December and they said it only happened a couple of days before Christmas. I have only been to Oslo in summer, but you dock right in the city centre, by the Castle

 

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Great advice,thank you.

We were unsure about Tivoli Gardens as it is described as a theme park, wasn’t sure it was for us?

We did the Anne Frank house and pre-booked tickets via their own website, so you have an allocated time slot and queue in a separate queue. This made it really efficient, even in busy December! It's amazing to look round, really hope you enjoy it!

Thank you, really looking forward to it. Just hope the ship makes it to Amsterdam.

We were on this cruise last year and really enjoyed it. We will probably do it again this year if the price is right. All the ports are easy to do on your own. We were disappointed to miss Amsterdam as we had pre booked the Anne Frank house. P&O gave us some free internet time in order to cancel. It took some time to do because the internet is so slow but they did give us a refund. Maybe staying overnight will give them the flexibility to dock in Rotterdam if the weather is bad and shuttle in to Amsterdam.

The markets were nice but we felt that the Christmas markets in the UK were bigger and better. We booked a shuttle into Bruges which was much cheaper and offered more flexibility time wise.

Thank you for the advice. We only booked this cruise because the price had dropped drastically, although it seems to have creeped back up a bit now, but keep watching. I have been to Christmas markets in Germany (not Hamburg) and found them so much better than the UK? As long as I get a Bratwurst and Gluvein, I will be happy. What you said about the overnight stop in Amsterdam makes sense, hopefully we will get to AF house.

Last time we went to Amsterdam, we did the Anne Frank house very easily on our own. The queues were quite long but it wasn't in December.

Thank you Jean

If your excursion is cancelled, your money will be refunded. If the ship is diverted elsewhere at short notice, you might find that PandO are not able to organise much in the way of excursions for that port.

 

We have been to your other ports and DIYed at each of them - although the PandO shuttle bus came in handy at times.

 

ps There is a dedicated area on this forum that gives information about the various ports of call, it might be worth having a look there.

Great advice, thank you

We are booked on the Aurora on 10th December 2018 visiting Hamburg, Copenhagen, Oslo and overnight in Amsterdam, can't wait. Reading previous reviews, it seems last year the ship was unable to dock in Amsterdam and diverted to Brugge. We had planned to book an excursion with P&O to visit Anne Frank's house etc. Does anybody know what happens if you can't get to the port? Can you transfer the excursion to something in Brugge, do you get a refund or do you just lose your money? Also, any advice on the other ports would be much appreciated, such as, can you walk in to the towns etc without booking excursions? Our main interest is the Christmas Markets. Any advice would be very helpful.

Ok thanks, that makes sense

Doesn't make sense to me.... They state clearly that a limit of 15 alcoholic drinks are allowed in a 24 hour period, how do they monitor that if they are not swiping your card? Irrelevant to me though, as if I did have 15 drinks, I would sleep for the rest of the cruise.....

Still far too early.

Unfortunately, I am like a child with a fear of missing anything, so up early even on holiday. Would rather get up early than fight with the hordes at 10 on a sea day. Each to their own. That is the good thing about cruising, we have choices.

The only disappointment for me on the Britannia was the cooked breakfast in the buffet restaurant. Reminded me of an old fashioned service station where the food just sits under lights to keep it warm. The rest of the buffet was great with lots of pastries, fruit etc. Also can get extremely busy. The Mdr food was much better with great omelettes etc. You can choose a table for 2, but might have to wait a short while, but we met some lovely people at breakfast sharing larger tables. We like our own company, but a quick chat at breakfast was a nice change.