AndyMichelle

I believe the money was refunded, the obc was an extra in way of an apology. Andy

Very well summed up. The problem for us is, preparing for our first cruise since before lock down, everything sounds so different it is quite scary. The big worry is will this new experience suit us? I don't really recall having to queue much for anything before. Everything seemed relaxed and smooth. It's great that everything seems to go smoothly for you, but you do seem to be in a minority with what is reported, although I am aware people are more likely to complain than praise. The stories of apps crashing, long waits for dinner, long queues for shuttle buses etc all seem to take away from the relatively stress free experiences we had previously. We will go with an open mind and hope our experience is more like yours than many others. Andy

Perfectly put... Lots of changes seem pretty pointless to me. With the exception of a New Year cruise on Ventura, I don't remember having to queue much anywhere, especially for your dinner, on many previous cruises with P&O. I accept the 2 larger ships have different requirements, but, still... Andy

Was only passing on information gained from elsewhere that I thought people boarding may have been interested in... The fact remains, there were 2 large queues at that time, gladly it seems one moved fairly quickly.. I would say 'whoops, I got it wrong' if I truly believed I had.. Andy

Have a fantastic time... Looking forward to your review. Andy

If you are lucky enough to get fairly early boarding, it is a good time to explore the ship and find your bearings, obviously checking out the cocktails in each bar as you go😊 Andy

All makes sense, until you see queues like yesterday... Andy

Apparently (it was on fb, so must be true!!😂) people who had a 2pm boarding time were still not on board at 4!!! If that is the norm, the new system is just not working... Andy

Wouldn't be so bad in the shed, these poor people are having to queue outside. Andy

Just seen pictures of the massive queue outside the terminal waiting to board Iona... Reports say these are not all early arrivers, 2 hour delays when arriving on time. If true, not good... Seems to be the norm now. Hope IFC is on board with a cocktail🍹 Andy

We had a noisy cabin on Oceana, we complained, they moved us straight away, in the middle of the night... Turning a negative into a positive. I guess we were lucky they had availabilty, would have been a difference if we just had to put up with it... Andy

Still sounds more than my memory of what used to be served, but I suppose that would have depended on the generosity of the waiter.. I will just have to fill my pockets at the buffet😂 Andy

See, the fact you say 'cheese plate' excites me. We have seen images on YT of individual plates of a selection of cheese and biscuits being served. Better than the tiny little slithers the waiter used to cut off for you and make you feel embarrassed to ask for any more pre lock down... Andy

Great post as usual Selborne, but you got me thinking... I normally post positive reviews, but that is because we have had fantastic holidays. A lot of it is down to expectations as we listen to the complaints and expect the worse and, in our experience, it has never been that bad. We have always had the same mindset of knowing P&O is far from perfect but we will make the most of it. Previously we have mostly slept well, been fed well, entertained well and looked after well... Add to that the amazing people we have met along the way, we are hoping not too much has changed for our upcoming Britannia cruise... We are thankful to MB and all the others who share their experiences, good and bad as it helps us prepare. Be prepared... Andy

After all that poor MB has been through on this cruise, you now want her to cook her own dinner... 😂

We chose G407 as have stayed in it before, there is no obstruction, despite being classed as obstructed... Mid ship, low down, large room at a bargain price, what more can you ask for... We are just hoping they don't commandeer it for isolation as they have done previously. Andy

It's not all bad... We are on Britannia end of June too😂 This will be our first cruise since lock down, but am still confident we will have a great time. It's a lovely ship and the Fjords are stunning. The truth is, P&O have never been perfect but we have had many great holidays with them. I'm expecting standards to being a bit lower, but we can cope with that. Andy

Looking forward to your report, you are our guinea pigs😂🐷 We are on Britannia end of June. Andy

Call P&O... They may not help, but they did help us once when we queried the upgrade and put us back into the grade we had paid for. (saver). We now try to book select and choose. Andy

BLIMEY!!! Just catching up with your days activities MB, reading them out to Michelle, we can't believe it!!! We are usually very tolerant people, but would be devastated if we were being treated like this... All we can do is keep our fingers crossed for you and hope that you get some sort of satisfactory resolution soon. Best wishes, Andy & Michelle x

That sounds good that they call you out by arrival time, I was concerned that it was first come first served... Thank you for the info, have a great cruise. Andy

Have a great time, looking forward to following your journey. Andy

I believe so... I saw a YT video recently where they did the skylift in the morning, back to the ship for lunch and then the glacier in the afternoon. When we booked the glacier through P&O, we had a choice of times, so sounds feasible. Andy

Please excuse me if this has already been answered. If we arrive at our allotted time, can we expect to go in reasonably quickly without joining the queue outside? The reason for asking is I have just seen a YT post from a family claiming they turned up at their allotted time for Britannia recently and had to queue outside for 3 hours behind the ones who arrived early... If true, doesn't seem fair... Andy

So glad you are asking these questions, saves me doing it😊 We knew our way around before lock down, now feel like newbies again... I'm sure you will have a great time, please keep us informed, we would really appreciate it. Andy