hwtom

Just a note on the alcohol policy now I'm back from my first cruise (Ventura) - every day in Horizon there was a note saying alcohol could not be brought aboard and that hand luggage would be searched, this being backed up by a daily announcement over the tannoy too. However, this turned out to be totally untrue - not once was any of my hand luggage searched, nor was I even asked once by the multiple people scanning cruise cards and x-raying hand luggage at each port if I had any - once a cotton bag with a 6-pack of beer in it was even held and rescanned by someone from P&O, and nothing was said/asked whatsoever. The table to declare any alcohol didn't even appear until the second or third port - I would have happily given any up had I been asked - instead, I saved probably at least £200 on drinks, given that we weren't people that wanted to go out and get drunk in the bars in the evenings; wanting instead to just enjoy some beer/wine on our balcony. [When we were in bars/restaurants, we did purchase drinks there, just to be clear :)]

Evening everyone,

Thanks to everyone for the replies; there's definitely no rush for us on the day, so no worries whatsoever - I'll aim to get to the terminal at 1330/1400ish after checking out of the hotel and having a bit of lunch; the coach is scheduled to arrive around 1430 (from Nottingham) so I'll see if I can speak to someone maybe when I arrive to see what I can do, neither of us will mind having to wait a short while if it comes to that.

Ta again, Tom

Hi everyone,

I've been a long-time lurker here since booking this cruise as my Mum's 60th birthday present last year and have picked up so much useful information; but as it's just three weeks exactly now until we set sail, I had a few final little things that I wondered if anyone would be able to help me out with...

1. I'm travelling to Southampton the day before and staying at the new Premier Inn (Cumberland Place), whereas my mum is coming down on the day with Intercruises; presumably we'll just be able to board at the same time with no issues? (i.e. with us being on the same booking, would we be called together, despite her being on the coach?)

2. On the day, I assume it would be best to book a taxi to get to the terminal; does traffic become an issue at all? (I've never been to Southampton before).

3. On arrival back, does everything run relatively smoothly as regards people getting to coaches/taxis into town etc, or can there be long waits? (despite the staggered disembarking - I know that once I'm back I'll just want to either get straight on the train, or at least grab some breakfast first!)

Finally, I was wondering about whether I should leave automatic gratuities on as there doesn't seem to have been a thread about that ever...:halo: Don't worry, I won't start that again :D

Apologies if any of these seem trivial; I'm a seasoned traveller otherwise, but I know that cruises are a completely different beast!

Thanks in advance, Tom