sidekick180

I am hoping that some of you RC cruisers can answer some questions for me?

I have only ever had a couple of cruises on P&O and found everything really simple. i.e. freedom dining and getting to all the shows etc.

I am now considering booking on the Anthem of the Seas in september, but I have been reading a few reviews and people have mentioned about booking for shows and also that they have fixed dining times.

My initial questions are: do you have to always book for every show and is it only fixed dining times or can you do similar to P&O and have freedom dining?

thank you in advance.

4 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Is that not already a 'thing'... 

I thought I was the reigning champion... 

Andy 

I have only been on two cruises and I think I saw enough people who thought they were in an Eat as much as you can competition. Never seen people fill plates up quite so high at breakfast. I almost wanted to ask if they needed me to help carry them.

I know that P&O already do 'Strictly Come Dancing cruises', but It's one of those programmes that I cannot stand, so I never book on one of those.

How about doing an XFactor themed cruise. They could actually get passengers to take part as contestants. This would reduce their costs, give passengers with real talent some limelite and it would be so much fun to watch those who think they have talent but don't. When passengers book on one of these cruises, they could ask at the time of booking, if they would be interested in performing.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that has posted insights and tips to answer my original post. It certainly has opened my eyes a bit wider. In June this year I was debating whether to book P&O or MSc on Preziosa. I did actually decide on P&O Ventura in the end and this cruise is for July 2020. Long time to wait but hey ho!

My main reason for my decision in the end, was because of all the negative posts I had been reading about the Preziosa. I have since learnt that making a decision based purely on negative comments is not the way to go. There are far too many people that find it really easy to find all the negatives and those people rarely give any positive feedback.

Whenever I write any reviews, I always try to give honest and factual information because I believe that this gives people a more balanced view looking at it through my eyes.

The most negatives for the Preziosa was reagrding the food. Many were saying that it was often co,d and that there was not much choice. The best way to look at that is to remember that I don't have to go and buy the food, cook it and then do the washing up. Plus the fact that on a cruise, you would never go hungry, so it can't really be that bad.

I will definitely consider MSC for any future cruises. Thank you everyone!

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that has posted insights and tips to answer my original post. It certainly has opened my eyes a bit wider. In June this year I was debating whether to book P&O or MSc on Preziosa. I did actually decide on P&O Ventura in the end and this cruise is for July 2020. Long time to wait but hey ho!

My main reason for my decision in the end, was because of all the negative posts I had been reading about the Preziosa. I have since learnt that making a decision based purely on negative comments is not the way to go. There are far too many people that find it really easy to find all the negatives and those people rarely give any positive feedback.

Whenever I write any reviews, I always try to give honest and factual information because I believe that this gives people a more balanced view looking at it through my eyes.

The most negatives for the Preziosa was reagrding the food. Many were saying that it was often co,d and that there was not much choice. The best way to look at that is to remember that I don't have to go and buy the food, cook it and then do the washing up. Plus the fact that on a cruise, you would never go hungry, so it can't really be that bad.

I will definitely consider MSC for any future cruises. Thank you everyone!

Thank you for that insight. Can i ask which cruise you are booked for in July 2020? That's the next cruise we have booked with P&O. Ours is NO19 on 11th July.

That was very informative, so thank you very much for that eddie11.

Just another quick question, may I ask how many times you have cruised with MSC and how many times with P&O? It sounds as though you have done lots with both.

Hi Everyone,

We have so far only been on two cruises, but we have another booked for July next year. Our first was on P&O Ventura, second was May this year on Azura and the next one is back on Ventura July 2020. I am considering the possibility of booking another with MSC, but I wondered if anyone could give me some honest feedback comparing the two cruise lines MSC and P&O.

Also, if booking with MSC, can you book direct with them, which is what I do with P&O. Or should I go through a travel agent?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi Everyone,

We have so far only been on two cruises, but we have another booked for July next year. Our first was on P&O Ventura, second was May this year on Azura and the next one is back on Ventura July 2020. I am considering the possibility of booking another with MSC, but I wondered if anyone could give me some honest feedback comparing the two cruise lines MSC and P&O.

Also, if booking with MSC, can you book direct with them, which is what I do with P&O. Or should I go through a travel agent?

Any help would be much appreciated.

On 8/25/2019 at 3:49 PM, LondonLad60 said:

Will you be booking a select or saver fare? If it's a saver fare (i.e. you don't receive free parking or onboard credit) then parking4cruises will be cheaper than CPS. If it's a select fare, I find it works out better to take the onboard credit as the select fare option and to book my own parking with parking4cruises. After you have parked with them once you qualify for a 5% discount. I was put off CPS for the following reasons. The first time I used them they must have parked my car beneath a lamppost or a tree, because when I returned to it, it was smothered (and I do mean smothered) in bird droppings. CPS had cleared the windows, but it took a pressure washer to get the rest off when I got home. On subsequent occasions I've returned to my car to find it covered in a layer of fine brown/grey metallic dust, which suggests to me that it was parked near one of the scrap yards within the port boundaries. I've never had any problems at all with parking4cruises, and I would happily recommend them.

Whichever terminal you return to, the short stay car park is only a few minutes walk away, and as Brianl says above, whichever terminal you return to (even if this changes during the cruise) your car will be waiting for you.

 

Bob

On 8/25/2019 at 3:49 PM, LondonLad60 said:

Will you be booking a select or saver fare? If it's a saver fare (i.e. you don't receive free parking or onboard credit) then parking4cruises will be cheaper than CPS. If it's a select fare, I find it works out better to take the onboard credit as the select fare option and to book my own parking with parking4cruises. After you have parked with them once you qualify for a 5% discount. I was put off CPS for the following reasons. The first time I used them they must have parked my car beneath a lamppost or a tree, because when I returned to it, it was smothered (and I do mean smothered) in bird droppings. CPS had cleared the windows, but it took a pressure washer to get the rest off when I got home. On subsequent occasions I've returned to my car to find it covered in a layer of fine brown/grey metallic dust, which suggests to me that it was parked near one of the scrap yards within the port boundaries. I've never had any problems at all with parking4cruises, and I would happily recommend them.

Whichever terminal you return to, the short stay car park is only a few minutes walk away, and as Brianl says above, whichever terminal you return to (even if this changes during the cruise) your car will be waiting for you.

 

Bob

Funny that you mention the brown/grey metalic dust when using CPS, because I had exactly the same all over my car when I used parking4cruises in May this year. Although, I thought it was dried on mud. The car was immaculate when I left it with them. I had cleaned it the day before we went on our cruise, but when i collected the car after the cruise it was filthy. I think it's just pot luck whether you get your car back in the same condition as you left it.

On 8/4/2019 at 6:26 PM, Host Hattie said:

I have tried several times to search for a roll call for Ventura July 2020 and it is showing no results, yet someone has started a roll call and put a post on there. obviously something is going wrong

I have just done another search for a roll call on Ventura July 2020 and although someone has posted for that roll call, when you do a search for Ventura July 2020 roll calls, nothing shows up. Can't figure out what's going wrong there.

I was hoping to start a new roll call for N019, Ventura July 2020, but I can't seem to find how to start it. I don't think there is already one in place. Does anyone know how to get one started?

We have just booked our next Cruise on Ventura N019 Spain and Portugal for July 2020. It's a long way off, but still can't wait.

A really bizarre thing happened when I made the booking, I had already looked online to get prices etc. and then I called P&O. During the phone call, I had left the page open on my computer, just so I could make sure that the price I got on the phone was the same price on the internet.

The bizarre thing was, when the lady at P&O asked if I had a specific cabin in mind, I said 'no, as long as it's a mid ship balcony cabin'. She then said 'No problem, I can offer you cabin number C510'. When I looked back at the computer, this was the exact cabin that was selected on there. There were other options of cabins in the same area, so it was very strange that this was the exact cabin she had offered me.

The story doesn't end there, because we had been on the Azura from 4th May this year, to France and Spain. Guess what cabin we had on that cruise? Yes, you guessed it, Cabin number C510. This is all a bit weird, but I just hope it's a good Omen!

Good afternoon everyone,

We have just returned from our second ever cruise, which was on P&O Azura and we are now considering trying MSC for a change. We have been looking at a cruise for next year to Bruges, Amsterdam and France Etc.

We have obviously not tried MSC before and know very little about this company or the ship, so any hints, tips and reviews would be very gratefully received Especially if you have recently returned from the Preziosa. Thank you.

I will be 59 on 3rd May, day before we embark on Azura. Other half is 46.

5 hours ago, docco said:

I'm with your husband on the black tie nights - it's outdated, appeals to a certain age group and demographic, and will eventually disappear in a puff of smoke.  However, a dark suit is perfectly acceptable and he won't feel remotely out of place in that.

 

I can thoroughly recommend the Epicurean if you fancy a really good dining experience.  £28 pp extra on Azura recently, but well worth it for the experience.  Wonderful service, with some really good (and interesting) dishes - if you fancy a bit of theatre, order the Crepes Suzette!  I'd put it on a par with many Michelin-starred restaurants.

 

Be warned, though - the black tie rule applies across all the restaurants, but obviously not the buffet.  For that you need a black belt.

 

 

Luckily, I have 6 of those, so the buffet is not an issue for me!!

We were on Ventura last May and it was scheduled to go to Guernsey. When we saw the queue of people waiting to get on the Tenders we decided not to bother. Really glad we didn't bother because when people came back on board later that day, most of them were complaining about the ridiculous waiting time for Tenders. One guy said that over a period of 5 hours, he had only spent one hour ashore, the rest of the time was waiting for tenders to Guernsey and then waiting to get back to the ship. not my idea of fun, partly because I hate queueing up for anything at the best of times.

We are booked on Azura in 3 weeks, which again is scheduled for a Guernsey stop, but to be honest, I don't know if I can be bothered. If we do book a future cruise, it will definitely not include Guernsey.

I know it's probably a lovely place to visit, but not exciting enough for me to waste 4 or five hours of my life in a queue.

We had a boring and almost invisible captain on the Ventura in May last year. Can't remember what his name was, so that just shows the amount of impact he had on us. I was really hoping that this May on Azura, it would be a more interesting captain. Maybe someone like Camby or Willard. They seem to be the main ones that crop up often with rave reviews and happy cruisers.

I really wish that I had seen these posts before I booked my cruise on Azura, which is in less than 5 weeks time. I might have decided to go with another company had I seen all of the issues that seem to be happening on Azura. I can only hope that some of these issues are sorted out before we go. This will only be our second ever cruise. Last year we went on Ventura and the cabin seemed fine. Yes there were signs of wear, but to be honest, due to the amount of people that stay in these cabins, you would expect those signs.

Having said that, I would also expect everything in the cabin to be working correctly and also, not to find any bad smells.

I am really looking forward to our cruise and I am going to try my best not to let these posts sway my judgement. I wont even bother showing them to my other half and will hope that all is fine when we go.

8 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

So we are going on a weeks cruise. 
Majority of things included. 

Not booked any excursions. We are just thinking of having a walk round or catching a tourist bus/train. Sampling some lovely food in little cafes etc. Not really sure what is at any of these places to be honest. 

We have 4 ports. 
St. Peter port
Santander
La Coruna 
Cherbourg

How many euro should we take? We have the credit card as back up anyways and this isn’t taking into account anything we spend on the ship as that’s separate. 

There are four of us. Two adults. Kids are 3 & 4. 
Breakfast and dinner will definitely be on the ship cos it’s supposed to be a cheap trip.

Sounds like you may be going on the same cruise as us. Azura, 4th May?

We will only be taking about 100 Euros, which is the same amount we took when we went on Ventura last year. We actually came back with 45 Euros last year.

I have just re-tested a multi port USB travel plug that I bought a while ago. It has three USB ports and a lift up third pin, which I assume is designed for making the plug more compact when the third pin is pushed down.

I plugged my Sony Mobile phone in and also 2 x vape machines. Within ten minutes of being plugged in all of the items started flashing and the plug itself started getting quite hot. I will assume that the plug itself is faulty and will be going in the bin. I have just ordered another multi port USB plug from ebay, which is from a company in Nottingham. Whether the plug has actually been manufactured in the UK is unknown. One thing is for sure, I will test it thoroughly before we go on our cruise and I will definitely not be leaving anything charging when we are not in our cabin.

Basically, my advice to anyone would be that if you want to charge a number of items at the same time, whether using a multi port USB plug or an extension lead, please make sure to test it well before taking it on a cruise.

18 hours ago, daiB said:

Why don’t you but a multi charger for your devices. It is a plug with 2/3 USB points.

 

Like this. Charges 3 things at once.

Thanks for that, but i did actually buy one of those after our cruise last May. I tried it after it arrived and I think it's faulty because when you plug a couple of items in to charge they just keep flashing. maybe I should try to get a better quality one.

Thanks for your feedback. I think I will give it a miss. I'm sure we will be able to manage with the two or three sockets in the cabin. I don't really want to cause any problems for the sake of a mobile charge up. I would rather just enjoy my cruise without any stress.