KnowTheScore

I went to Sindhu at Christmas

Had the ginger prawns to start and the lobster byriani for main.

Sorry to say all were disappointing.     Have eaten at Sindhu many times before on different cruises and have always thoroughly recommended it but things have gone downhill, same as everything else.

The Lobster Byriani turned out to be the usual half lobster in its shell that P&O have always served in the MDR on Gala Nights dumped on a plate with just a small ramekin sized mound of rice and some sauce on the side.   That is not a Byriani in my book.  A byriani is a rice dish in itself with all manner of things cooked with the rice including the main meat or fish.   It's not a pile of plain rice and a bit of meat/fish.

Overall the portions have become tiny, way too much empty space on the plate and the previous fantastic flavours just weren't there any more.   A real shame for us because we used to love going to Sindhus for a night out.

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9 hours ago, ToxM said:

 What changes do you feel you can deal with, what is a step too far for you?

 

Are you willing to lose some aspects in order to carry on

Are you willing to pay more to cruise in the future? 

Are you so worried that you are waiting to see what happens before you book?

 

Same question keeps getting asked on thread after thread.  It's almost as if cruise lines are clueless and floundering and desperate to get feedback from cruisers as to what they will accept.

Here's the deal

I don't care what changes are made, I don't care if everything is just the same as it was before.

I will very happily take my chances with the virus.  I will very happily go on-board with no social distancing in place

What I WILL NOT DO however is step on-board if the cruise line / Carnival policy for dealing with cases of COVID-19 is to quarantine every passenger to their cabins for 2 weeks and/or to dump everyone off the ship at the nearest port and fly them home.   No way.  No how.  

This remains, even months and months after the Diamond Princess debarcle, the single biggest issue facing the industry.

It's an issue they have little control of because they appear to be totally beholden to the so-called world health authorities like the WHO and CDC.

A compromise solution MUST be found to this problem.   Cruising simply can not continue on the basis of Diamond Princess protocols, people will simply refuse to cruise.

I have still not seen a single suggestion from any cruise line about how they propose to deal with on-board cases of COVID-19. 

How long are they going to stay in hiding on this singular and most important issue?

Everything else pales into insignificance.

It's the huge elephant in the room they keep ignoring

But it's not going away

Tell me, in writing, that if there's a case of COVID-19 on-board that you will put that person off the ship immediately and leave everyone else to just get on with their holiday.   Tell me also that other countries/ports will still allow the ship to dock in that circumstance and if the ship isn't going to be allowed to dock anywhere for the remainder of the cruise then tell me in writing I will get compensation for every port missed.

I wrote to P&O very early on in the crisis with a list of such simple questions.

All I got back was evasive non-committal answers despite going back and forth a few times.   Simply not good enough.

It's not acceptable to make the customer take all the COVID-19 risk and get no compensation.

Ball is in their court.   If they want future custom, then stop hiding and deal with the elephant in the room.

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1 hour ago, adam7392 said:

OP hear - thanks for continuing comments - all useful.

 

Regards what experience I'm looking for, the following would be priority:

 

2- Food/Service - want to feel like I'm getting a food experience but not at expense of having to go to speciality restaraunts to get it.  We like the Princess food/service in the MDR and buffet has been good, the afternoon teas are also great and I see P&O do that in the MDR. 

A fternoon teas are pretty rushed and nothing like they used to be on P&O, same as everything else.   A few small sandwiches and scones and if you are lucky teacakes and/or crumpets though I didn't see either of those on my last visit.  Trying to get hold of the waiter with the tea is a constant struggle.   The waiters imho really don't like this period, they want and need to get off and on with other duties and consequently you'll see them desperately trying to clear the tables as soon as they can.  Not a place you can keep sitting and chatting with table companions, you just feel awkward and that they want you out of there as quickly as possible.    I don't blame the waiters for a second.  They simply have too many duties now and so little time.

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We also like the level of formality on Princess formal nights - i.e. seems most people make an effort and DJ's are not out of place.   I haven't got a great feel for which line has the better food experience, always a personal thing I know.  I feel P&O may have a better formal night experience.

I must warn you that the experience varies dramatically with the ship.  The P&O fleet has always been somewhat segregated in this way.   Aurora and Oriana were widely accepted to be the "glam" ships where people actively wanted to uphold strong dress code and create an ambience of elegance and formality.  Very much an ethos of wanting each night to seem special rather than just going down the local pub.   At the other end is Ventura which as I have said upthread is lax and nowhere near the same.  You will find on formal nights, young girls wearing dresses that barely cover their knickers and plenty of what are called "porn shoes" being worn all topped off with the obligatory long fake eyelashes and excess make-up.   Lots of gents on Ventura simply refuse to wear tuxedos and dickie bows and instead turn up as if they were going to the office in a drab grey suit.   All perfectly within the dumbed down P&O dress code of course.   You'll have to experience this for yourself to fully appreciate it.  If a black tie night to you is one of refined elegance, poise and suaveness then you'll be disappointed on Ventura with its cheap ticket cabins.    Sail on Aurora and you'll see a different style completely but then you'll pay for that experience in the ticket price.  Ventura is cheap for a reason

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4-Overall ship ambience.  One thing we love on Princess are the MUTS (movies under the stars) the large cinema screens on the pool deck.  Great to get some buffet food and lay back to watch a movie.  Unfortunately both ships don't seem to have a pool deck cinema. 

 

Correct, no deck film screens.   Ventura does have a small film screen in one of its lounge areas called the Tamarind but as with just about all it's venues it is open plan and so there is a main walkway (one of the busiest on the ship) running right alongside it with people constantly talking and shouting as they go by.  The area as I said is also one of the main lounges so will constantly have people sitting there for drinks and chatting regardless of whether a film is being shown.  This is not imho a place to watch a relaxing film.   By comparison on Aurora there is a proper dedicated cinema, fully enclosed with proper tiered seating.  You get what you pay for.

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Also in this category would be the general vibe on the ship, ability to get sun loungers etc on sea days, passenger mix etc.  Difficult area to pin down but I'm leaning more towards Carnival on this.

Already done my best to hint to you what the passenger demographic is like on Ventura.   A "cheap seats" business model has its impact.    On Ventura I find that people will frequently barge into your lift before you've had chance to get out.  On other ships they politely wait to see if anyone needs to get out.  On Ventura people will grab a seat in the limited coffee bar area and settle in for an entire afternoon reading or knitting instead of being mindful of others who want a coffee.  It's the little things. 

You get the experience you pay for. 

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14 hours ago, Hlitner said:

As to folks that still feel the need to heap huge portions on their plate (until they spill onto the deck)...I suspect they are going to be very disappointed.   Those folks will likely be asking servers "more please" and taking multiple pre-plated items. 

Yes that's the inevitable future.   The food in MDRs has imo lost a lot of quality and quantity over the years.  Some of it little better than Weatherspoon's fare.   Where we used to have good healthy dishes with plenty of meat fish and an abundance of vegetables (served silver service) we now get plated mediocre fare with a tiny amount of vegetables.  Yes you can always ask for more but the waiters are generally so busy having to do multiple jobs that you don't want to bother them.   Going to the self-service buffet area every now and then has been a way to get the healthy meals you want in the quantity that you want.  Not greedy mass pile ups of food, but simply a decent plate of food, with 3-4 types of vegetables in decent quantity.

Take that ability away from passengers and suddenly the cruising proposition starts to change.

I've become accustomed to paying many £1000s for a holiday in which I previously knew and expected that all my food was included and that I could have what I wanted and as much as I wanted, when I wanted.   Now that appears to have changed.  Now we get sparse plated meals little better than pub food and I find myself asking "why the hell am I paying £1000s for this?!"

If they want to drastically curtail the food quality and quantity then accordingly they must bring down the ticket prices.

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On ‎6‎/‎12‎/‎2020 at 7:29 PM, longton said:

We want to do 2 back to back Med cruises on Azura which start and finish in Malta.

 

I have a couple of questions:

 

Would we keep the same cabin for both cruises?

 

Ideally you would try to book the same cabin on both cruises if that cabin is to your taste.  Then there's no fuss and you have nothing to worry about on the disembarkation day of the first cruise.

However it's absolutely not a requirement to do B2Bs

You can quite happily have different cabins.  If you do so then on the morning of the disembarkation day after everyone else has got off, stewards will come to you cabin with a rolling clothes rail and transfer all your clothes from your wardrobes to it and take it to your new cabin for you as well as any other cases and bags.  The staff are very good.

When we did this we found that the cleaning and preparation of our 2nd cabin had been given priority so that this move could be undertaken as early as possible.   All very simple and relatively seamless.

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Balcony imo makes a cruise and once done you'll find it very difficult to go back imo.

Much also depends on your itinerary and the time of year.   Certain cruises demand a balcony imo.

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2020 at 6:56 AM, AndyMichelle said:

Thousands return every year, she must appeal to many. 

Naturally.  Lot's of people like the Butlin's environment and the particular demographic of society that the ship tends to attract.  Such will always be the case.  Hence my asking of the OP what kind of experience he was looking for.   

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If you found the experience so bad, why did it take you 3/4 cruises to decide you 'probably' won't sail on her again? 

First was the maiden voyage.  So not remotely comparable.  Lot's of extra services and entertainment laid on for such a cruise.

It did highlight lots of Ventura's problems and numerous people remarked about them.  In the immediate years after that maiden cruise Ventura gained a bad reputation as the "cheap" / "chav" ship due to the lower pricing of cabins.    It would be years later that we decided to try her again in case things had improved but the kids were still unruly, no staff enforcing the rules and still very much an "anything goes" environment.      We later decided to try the ship out of school holiday periods which is essential to do if one wishes to objectively appraise a ship.  The experiences with and without kids on-board are markedly different on all ships.  The final voyage on her was a deliberate choice to introduce cruising for the first time to the MIL who is not remotely formal, not a black tie kind of person and so we chose to start her on Ventura as the most lax and informal in the fleet so that she would not feel uncomfortable. 

Again it all comes down to what one wants from a cruise.

Ventura is for me, Butlins at sea and the food in the MDR now little more than Weatherspoon's fare.  I find the entertainment team extremely immature,  generally irritating and very often an embarrassment to P&O.   The other staff are excellent as they are across the fleet but they are having to work under increasingly (imo) unacceptable pressures.  Their jobs have doubled up whilst their salaries have not.   Alternative dining venues have gone downhill in quality and some are doubling up as daytime dossing areas for passengers.

Each to their own.  All depends what you want, but for me that . . .  "is not the life", sorry Rob Bryden

12 hours ago, wowzz said:

Can you please provide your evidence for this.

There are various.  Here is one:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1?versioned=true

HCoV-19 (SARS-2) has caused >88,000 reported illnesses with a current case-fatality ratio of ~2%. Here, we investigate the stability of viable HCoV-19 on surfaces and in aerosols in comparison with SARS-CoV-1. Overall, stability is very similar between HCoV-19 and SARS-CoV-1. We found that viable virus could be detected in aerosols up to 3 hours post aerosolization, up to 4 hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to 2-3 days on plastic and stainless steel. HCoV-19 and SARS-CoV-1 exhibited similar half-lives in aerosols, with median estimates around 2.7 hours. Both viruses show relatively long viability on stainless steel and polypropylene compared to copper or cardboard: the median half-life estimate for HCoV-19 is around 13 hours on steel and around 16 hours on polypropylene. Our results indicate that aerosol and fomite transmission of HCoV-19 is plausible, as the virus can remain viable in aerosols for multiple hours and on surfaces up to days.

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1 hour ago, NoFlyGuy said:

 

Really?

Firstly it's the WHO who keep seeming to change their guidance. Masks are good, masks make no real difference.

The government along with its pile of so-called "experts" has also repeatedly told the public that masks were not beneficial for the public.  Both the WHO and government have lied in order to stop the public buying PPE because there was a scandalous shortage of it ostensibly because past government had failed to maintain the stockpiles.  I could cite numerous gov't statements with sources but it's academic.  They lied to the public to protect their positions regarding PPE.  How many died because they were unable to give us the truth and tell us all to wear masks?

1 hour ago, NoFlyGuy said:

Yes we are all learning but the science isn't exact.

The science knew that mask wearing would significantly reduce the spread of the virus.  It's therefore scandalous that the UK public were not instructed to wear masks when out and about.

1 hour ago, NoFlyGuy said:

You quote 8 metres as how far droplets can be spread from quoting 'some authorities'. So do you believe that we should have an 8 metre distancing rule? If not, why quote that authority. What do you want? 1 metre, 1.5 metres, 2 metres or 8 metres or any other distance that some scientist or medic advises.

First what I want and what a public needs during a pandemic is the TRUTH and clear unambiguous guidelines.  We got neither.

The social distancing rule was always a complete farce and nothing more than a psychological trick imho.  What we should have had from the outset was mandatory mask wearing in public to stop incubating people spreading virus to others in supermarkets, stores, garages and elsewhere.   Even now they are only mandating masks on public transport.

1 hour ago, NoFlyGuy said:

It's patently obvious to me that the closer you get to someone who has the virus the more likely it is you will catch it. 

 

If people are wearing masks then I' much less worried about distance.   Without masks, any distance is pretty much a problem for the reasons given in prev post

The markets are being swung up and down constantly at present by those who have the financial power to influence share prices.  Share prices are forced down, they buy shares, the share prices goes up, they sell, and the cycle repeats.  The City Boys are making absolutely pots of money in this market.   The rest of us mere mortals can pick up the crumbs which are actually far more substantial in this market.    But the shares after they have been pushed down and just wait for them to go up again.  It's probably the easiest market to make cash in for 50 years imo.

The 2m rule was always an utter farce and the government and so-called "experts" have always known it.  I deem it little more than a psychological technique to make the masses comply with something and think they are doing something good.

Scientifically it has been known for months that the aerosol droplets from coughs and sneezes travel up to 8m and sometimes further depending on air currents.  It is also known that fine aerosol droplets can hang in the air for up to 3 hours so no amount of social distancing will protect you from this.

At the same time the government and experts knew that if people wore masks or other face coverings you could reduce the spread of your exhaled germs VERY significantly, in the case of a simply bandana by a factor of 36.

Yet they lied to the public and told them that there was no benefit in the public wearing masks, but that they would magically work and provide benefit to NHS workers.

The entire situation is and has been an utter farcical shambles and a national scandal imho.

The government has since done a complete U-Turn on the issue of wearing masks and Boris stood up on live TV in the HoC and stated that masks ARE beneficial in preventing spread of the virus.   Just outrageous.

They will now do a similar U-Turn on social distancing by the look of it, another farcical step, as if 1m or 2m really made the slightest bit of difference when coughs and sneezes can travel 8m or more and when droplets can hang in the air for 3 hours.

They have treated the UK public as utter fools imo and continue to do so

Bottom line, social distancing destroys business and its ability to provide products and services. Accordingly it has to be eradicated in a way that the public will accept without them thinking it's all been a farce from the outset.

@Scratchrat

Definitely give each alternative restaurant one go to see what you think.

When you get on board and head to the buffet for lunch or elsewhere you will undoubtedly be approached by restaurant girls offering cheap visits and as a first timer I would encourage you to take up those offers.   Sindhu for example always offer the first 2 nights on-board with a significant discount to the supplement charge.  So a great opportunity to try that cheap and then if you like it you can book further nights later in the cruise.   Same will be true of Epicurean and some other venues.

As you are on Azura, definitely take a lunch in the Glass House, try the selection of mini dishes (you can pick 3 from the list).  They include battered King Prawns with aioli dip, Curried Scallops with Mango salsa,  Oxtail Bon Bons, Chorizo stew and more and they are delicious.   Also (another day!) try the "Sliders" which are 3 separate mini burgers which include a lamb burger with Tzatziki, Beef Brisket Burger with smoked cheddar and truffle mayo and Piri Piri chicken burger with Avocado.   All with fries.  Picture below.

Sample menus here:

https://www.pocruises.com/content/dam/po/inventory-assets/activity-types/dining/dining-menus/the-glass-house/H17-140 Glass House Menu Final Artwork_A1 NO PRICES_LR.pdf

https://www.pocruises.com/content/dam/po/inventory-assets/activity-types/dining/dining-menus/the-glass-house/H17-140 Glass House Menu Final Artwork_B1 NO PRICES_LR.pdf

Also I'm totally with poster Selbourne regarding Breakfasts in the MDR

English Breakfast however you like, the Kedgeree and Eggs Benedict not to be missed.  But you have to get up early which I find really difficult.   And yes, no decent toast to be had anywhere on the ship sadly.  Always dry and crisp and brittle.

Also note you can have breakfast delivered to your cabin.  Just fill in the card in your cabin with the options you want and hang it on the door handle outside.  You can order cereals, toast and jams, croissants, pastries, hot sausage/bacon Panini's, orange juice, muffins, hams and cheeses, grapefruit/orange segments, yoghurts and fresh tea/coffee.   If you have elected to have a balcony then having breakfast out on the balcony in warm weather overlooking the bay or port of your destination is a very nice thing to do.

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Yep.

Wife and I were on a Christmas cruise to the Canaries and the week after the cruise we came down with a strange virus.  Not a cold, not Flu, different from anything we'd previously had.   Wiped my wife out completely.   Fevers, no runny nose, persistent dry cough etc etc.   We were obviously incubating on the cruise and have no doubts we got it from the cruise (either from people on-board or from port visits or both).    We both got through it fine as we take care to eat good foods, maintain a strong immune system and have educated ourselves on natural remedies and the importance of leaving a fever to do its thing (thus NEVER EVER taking paracetamols, neurofens or other painkillers that force a fever down).

The internet is now replete with testimonies of people who now realise they had COVID-19 in December 2019 and Jan 2020 before the powers that be came clean and told the world.  There is no doubt at all that the virus was known about months before.  Earliest cases were Oct/Nov 2019.    We may take an immunity test at some stage but that depends whether they are using such tests as a back door way to build a huge DNA database of the population which I suspect they are doing.

If there's a spot test where I can be swabbed, tested there and then, and do so anonymously, then yep I'd get one just so I can confirm what we suspect, that we've been through COVID-19.

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1 hour ago, Scratchrat said:

How far in advance before your cruise do you tend to book excursions?  Or do you wait til on board?

Maybe you don't book at all and just do things on your own? Eager to hear!

First timers tend to book lots of excursions not realising either how good/bad they are nor what they can actually do themselves at ports.  That's how we started.

Today we don't take any excursions with P&O.   We have found that they are generally very poor value for money and good excursions are few and far between.  It wasn't always thus but over the years excursions have suffered quality loss the same as everything else.

Much depends on your specific cruise, where you are going, how long it takes to get to places and safely get back to the ship before it sails and so on.  Also depends on your personal circumstances, whether you can walk well etc.

If we do book an excursion, we do it before we sail because it will be one that we know books up quickly. 

If we are travelling to Livorno or Civitavecchia (for Pisa or Rome) then we generally take a P&O transfer excursion as the journey is 1.5 hrs each way and we would not want to risk taking public transport to get there ourselves.  Others do make their own way though on trains and have done so successfully and much cheaper than the excursion.

In Naples we would just get on the "tube" train down to Sorrento which is a very picturesque journey passing Vesuvius and Pompeii and costs just 6 euros for a ticket.   A P&O excursion by coach would cost you probably £40 a person.   A huge rip off imho.

Where ever we now go we generally walk off the ship and walk into towns / cities or take the free shuttle bus to local drop off points.   We've often taken taxis in Lisbon, Portugal when bus queues are long which helps support that local business.

We've done close to 40 P&O cruises and taken many excursion in that time and I can honestly say that probably no more than 3-5 of them have been stand-out memorable trips.  The rest are just "meh" and for us are no longer worth the money.

Of the standouts there is the "Taste Of Tuscany" trip which visits a farm/vineyard with plenty of fabulous wine and tapas put on.  Whether it still goes to the same place I don't know.

The "Bike Glide" at Alicante was excellent.  Free wheel cycling from the top of a mountain down windy roads with breath taking views then a bus to take you back to the top to then cycle down the other side and ending up in a local tavern for free local wine and tapas.

We have learned to avoid taking guided tour excursions which for us are painfully boring and mundane.  We were forced to take one last year when we wanted to visit Seville (from Cadiz) and all the basic transfer excursions had sold out.   The guide was adamant she was going to visit all the places and give us all the spiel and that we MUST go into the cathedral and endure more spiel.   We were desperate to just leave the group and roam free but the guide would not allow it.  By the time we had finished we only had about 1.5 hrs to explore the lovely place.  :-(

Roaming free is imho the best option. 

In Dubrovnik we jump straight onto a local ferry service costing £12 that takes you down the beautiful coast to the village of Cavtat.   Spend a few hours there, have lunch over-looking the bay and then come back, wander around the Dubrovnik city centre and then back on-board.  No need for any excursions.

Most places in the Mediterranean are simple walk-offs or shuttle bus rides.   Cadiz, Barcelona, Cartagena, Valencia, Malaga, Malta, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Split, Kortula, Koper, Kotor, Venice etc etc 

All depends what you are looking for and your personal circumstances.

A better way to acquire your information would be to post your itinerary here and ask others what they do in those ports.  You'll get a raft of great ideas of places to go, how to get there and what to do there.

Cheers

3 hours ago, Scratchrat said:

That sounds delightful!

 

Didn't realise they served a lunch too! Assumed we would be buffet bound or to the pizza/burger counters!

Oh yes

Breakfasts, lunches and evening meals in there and as Brian says afternoon tea too.

You can of course also go to the "Smash N Grab" buffet if you wish but personally I find the MDR more civilised and hygienic !

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Your plan is quite thoughtful, but there is one fundamental flaw that I detect.

 

Holland America Line in recent years has "required" guests to return to their cabin once the drill begins.  Such a "requirement" is ignored by a significant percentage of guests.  When I get to my muster station when I am instructed to do so, there are dozens of my potential future lifeboat friends who were there much earlier than I.  People don't do what people are "told to do" unless they are MADE to do so.  

The old will have nothing to do with the new in the COVID-19 cruising world

The Captain will instruct passengers in strict terms.  Any dissenters will be warned and put off the ship if they refuse to comply.

I can't honestly see people mucking about in this new environment.

4 hours ago, ATC cruiser said:

Just out of curiosity,  how many of these batches do you think it would take to get through all the passengers? 

Working on say 8 separate muster areas with 100 pax per area so 800 pax in each batch

(N.B. Suggesting 100 on the basis of 50 separated 2m distanced spots mostly populated by couples)

For a ship of 1800 pax that's about 2 - 3  batches

Figure on 10mins for people to get from cabin to muster station.

10 mins there

5 mins to get to theatre

10 mins there

Probably get through that in about 2 hours

It's fairly typical market movement.

All these kind of stocks have been bouncing up and down in relatively big swings for weeks.  The City Boy traders are making pots of cash from the more naïve mug punters.    They buy low when they know it's the right time, then pump the stock with lots of Twitter "ramping" and chat board ramping with tales of cruising coming back on line and telling people now is the point to buy in and of course they sell their shares on the rise generated and then start shorting the share which pushes the share price back down.  They have been "rinse repeating" this for weeks now making pots of money.  They same goes for all the shares in the travel sector.  Take a look at TUI or SAGA, same thing.   Plus anything in the entertainment industry like cinemas and of course all the pharmaceuticals where tales of impending vaccines keep the punters coming in.

However we are now I think approaching the point where the volatility will settle down because lockdown measures are being eased and thus services like Cinemas will open again.  So this is probably the last chance to buy shares at low prices in stocks that were utterly battered by the virus lockdown measures.   Some of them will likely only go upward now rather than constantly up and down in huge swings.   The speculation element that drove the volatility is disappearing as lockdowns disappear.

Cruise line shares should make people good money provided the cruise lines can agree some new protocol with CDC and the like concerning how to deal with on-board cases of COVID-19.   Still a waiting game on that score.

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6 hours ago, Scratchrat said:

My partner is rather fussy with food and will often not want any of the options for one or more of the courses. If they were to ask for 3x starters instead of a main course for example, would this be doable/normal to ask?

 Yes it is all totally do-able and very much used to be the norm many years ago when things were much better.

The standard meal schedule is Starter, Soup, Main Course then Dessert

Lots of people skip the soup and order a 2nd starter instead of soup.

Every menu has a lot of daily choices plus a separate side menu with "always available dishes".   The daily choices are cycled dishes of pork, lamb, beef, chicken and various types of fish.  They also at times include family favourites and comfort foods like pastas or stews or pies and so on.    The "always available" menu always includes steak, roast chicken and salmon.

Dishes come plated up (they used to be silver service in days of old).   The vegetables on them is very sparse and nothing like you might give yourself at home.  You can always ask your waiters to bring additional veg and / or a bowl of chips or potatoes if you want them.

If what they bring you isn't to your liking you can tell the waiters and they will take your dish away and offer to bring you an alternative off the menu. 

If you have any specific dietary requirements (gluten free, no dairy, vegetarian, vegan etc) then inform the restaurant manager and you will be given separate menus.

Bottom line is that you can order whatever food you want from the menu, starters, soups, mains or desserts. 

However on a personal basis I am always mindful of my table companions and what they have ordered.  I bear in mind the time they will have to sit waiting if I order additional courses because the waiters bring food in batches (starters, soups etc).

Thus is you fancied 2 starters off the menu and also the soup then you would likely be eating the 2nd starter whilst others were having their soup course and then you'd be eating your soup course on your own with everyone else waiting for their main courses.  Nevertheless it's your cruise, you paid the money and so can order and eat whatever you like.  It's simply my personal preference to be mindful of my table companions.

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I don't know about you all but I like to treat the MDR as my little experiment. I am a creature of habit in restaurants at home, I want to try new things but I don't like paying for things I end up disliking, so on a cruise, I use the MDR to try new things, on the understanding that if I don't like it, I haven't lost anything and I've tried it! Does anyone else do this?

Yes of course, lots of people do.  I agree it's a great way to try things and as stated above, if what they bring you is immediately not to your liking or palate then the waiter will remove it and bring something else.  Variety is the spice of life.  Try it all imo.

As a fish lover one of the first things I did when cruising was to work through all the different fish.  Monk fish, John Dory, Mullets, Baramundi, Mahi Mahi, Sole, etc etc etc   In fact in the earlier days instead of soup many people used to ask for one of the main fish dishes to be made into a small "fish dish" as a 2nd starter.   i.e.  Starter, fish dish then main course then dessert.

Don't forget you have lunches too.  Lots of opportunities to try lots of different dishes.   In fact in some respects the lunch dishes are more interesting as they are usually much more than "meat and 2 veg" dishes that you get in the evenings.  For lunches there are meat platters and salads and curries and pastas and much more.   Enjoy it all and experiment.

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Do people find the specialty restaurants worth the cost? We tend to do specialties once or twice a cruise on Carnival as a treat, usually when we're not too fussed on the MDR menu.

Personally, not for me these days.  3yrs ago I would have said yes but not now.  I personally find the service and quality as gone down in my favourite alternative dining areas.   The "fusion" restaurant Sindhu was a firm favourite and was most certainly worth the supplement.  Great tasting food, really different and exceptional service.  At Christmas just gone we found that the food was nowhere near as good as it used to be.  Awfully tiny portions and just not the remarkable flavours as before.

The Beach House restaurant I didn't think much of either.  It's basic food using the same ingredients as the MDRs so why pay more?   And who puts a pot of pork scratchings on a menu as a starter ???!!

Glass House I find is good.  They used to run food and wine tasting evenings twice a cruise.  Those were very good but always had the same menu so once done not much incentive to return a 2nd time.   The Rib-Eye steaks in Glass house are delicious and the lunches they do are really different and extremely tasty.  The only problem, which I sincerely hope P&O will address, is that they allow general passengers to lounge about in the eating areas, reading books, knitting, playing card games etc which makes a mockery of it being a dining area.   I'm not really willing to pay food supplement costs to eat my food with someone in the neighbouring table sat knitting or playing Gin Rummy.   A restaurant should be a restaurant esp if it is chargeable.

In the end you'll just have to try these places and see for yourself and judge if it's worth the extra money.

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On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2020 at 9:04 AM, Bashermat said:

Thank you, sadly Sturgeon doesn’t work for me

 

As this will be your first cruise would you mind explaining in what context you previously used Stugerons?   When did you take them, how often, how did they make you feel (if at all)?

My 2penneth on the issue of Muster Drills

1.  They can't be done by video imho because every individual ship and every individual captain may have specific things they need to address.   The bulk of the captain's spiel is mandated standard dialogue from marine rules and I can probably recite most of it off the top of my head after close to 40 cruises.  But there may always be additional information that a captain needs to put across, perhaps certain parts of the ship are under repair and not to be used in an emergency etc etc.    They can't keep recording lots of individual videos.

2.  There is a need (presumably legal req't) that they verify that people have attended a drill and have listened to and/or watched any required information.  That can only be done by having staff physically watch people attend and record their cruise cards.

3.  There is a need for people to physically attend their designated muster station in order to know where it is and to be told where the exit doors are in that area that will be used in an emergency.

The above present social distancing issues but  they are not insurmountable.

An obvious solution would be as follows:

1.  At a designated time (say 3:30pm) the captain orders all passengers to go to their cabins and remain there until called for muster drill

2.  In batches, perhaps by deck and odd/even numbers the captain calls people down from their cabins to their designated muster station where, thanks to limited batch numbers they remain socially distanced.   Their cruise cards are scanned on entry.   This teaches them how to get to their muster station from cabin in an emergency.  The staff highlight where the emergency exits are and demonstrate donning life jackets and give out any specific information pertinent to that ship or its current circumstances.   The passengers themselves do not bring their own life jackets as it presents a hygiene risk but if they wish to they can try their jackets in their cabins and phone reception for help if they don't understand how to use them.

3.  After the above visit to the muster station those passengers are then directed to the large theatre on the ship.  This will be co-ordinated so that all those in the batch that left their cabins all move to the theatre together from various muster stations.

Again the batch sizing means that people are socially distanced in the theatre.  Cruise cards are scanned a second time on entry to the theatre.   In the theatre they are given the main oral side of the muster drill by the Captain or other spokesperson.  i.e. the long spiel.  The Captain could even be present on stage to personally welcome people and give some "style" to the proceedings.

4.  Whilst the theatre drill is in progress the next batch of passengers are instructed to leave their cabins and go to their muster stations.   Everyone else remains in their cabins.

5.   The theatre passengers are told to return to cabin and stay there.   The next batch of passengers move from muster stations to the theatre.   The next batch of passengers move from cabin to muster station.

This is all carefully co-ordinated such that at no time are there masses of people milling about bumping into each other.  No movements from cabin to station or from station to theatre or from theatre back to cabins happen at the same time.

Everyone stays in their cabin until specifically called out and once they return from their drills they again stay in the cabin until the entire ship's compliment have been drilled.  

Simple rotation system using 2 locations to ensure careful and controlled movement of passengers.

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14 hours ago, Bashermat said:

We are 1st time cruise bookers and are going on the Caribbean Cruise for 14 nights on the Azura

We have booked a Superior Deluxe Balcony Room, however I suffer badly with motion sickness, we did not pay the extra £2k to choose our room as we thought that was a ridiculous amount for the privilege, our cabin type shows DE on our confirmation, does anyone know where we could be and if the areas will be bad for sickness?

Apart from all of this we are very excited...also any tips on what we must book etc would be greatly received

 

Not picking your specific cabin is imho a big mistake if you know you suffer seasickness.

I'm one for keeping it real as I too suffer from it and it is horrible and debilitating and can ruin a holiday.   I am not here to frighten you but to say it like it is so you can best manage.

In future, always book a cabin dead mid-ships.  There is minimal movement there.   Never book a cabin front or back as that's where movement is maximum and the bow and stern can rise and fall many many meters constantly in high swells.  

Azura and it's sister ship Ventura are long ships which makes them more susceptible to "wallowing" and "corkscrewing".

They have stabilisers which can be noisy at times and create juddering vibrations.

As others have said take a good supply of Stugerons with you.    It is extremely important to take them BEFORE you set sail from any given port.  Once you are starting to feel the effects of ship movement it is too late to take them and they won't work. 

Always check the weather reports for the places you are visiting.  Don't rely on Captain's announcements though, once you get too understand their lingo they can be useful indicators. 

Understand the signs of impending seasickness.  It begins with a mild headache which if you don't notice quickly will soon turn into seasickness.    Stay mid-ships if you feel queasy.  If your cabin is front or back don't go back there.  Pick a lounge or bar that is mid-ships and stay there.    Avoid standing and walking.  While you are doing so your body's "gyro" system is active and having to balance you whilst the ship is moving.   Makes things worse.   Sit down.   As soon as you do your body has no need at all to try balancing anything.  Stay sitting down as much as possible.

There are 2 kinds of seasickness impacts.   One affects your balance and is to do with your ears and eyes.  The other affects your stomach and makes you physically sick.  I suffer from the former.  Even without being physically sick it debilitates me totally. 

If you have taken your Stugerons properly the movement shouldn't affect you so much.   Even so, I would still keep mid-ships as much as possible in any swells and avoid totally front and back.  That for me would mean missing theatre shows but I don't mind.

Don't bother with the wrist bands.  They are kidology.  Placebo.  Trust me, in really bad weather you will thoroughly regret it if you chose wrist bands.   Only the seasick pills work properly.

A drink of port and brandy is an age old remedy if your seasickness is of the stomach kind.

Ginger will also settle an upset stomach

The key to the whole thing is to not ignore it or try to fight it and definitely not to "give it a go" and see if you can hack it without tablets.  If you suffer seasickness then take it seriously.   Take a good supply of tablets.  Stugerons require 2 tablets before you sail and then further single tablets every 8 hours.   So ultimately 3 tablets a day.  Take plenty with you.

Another tip is that every ship in the fleet has sweet spots where it's best to sit in rough weather and they also have "not" sweet spots in midships places that can make you queasy.   On Azura and Ventura the coffee bars at the bottom of the Atrium are good places to sit and ride out rough weather (though the stabilisers are very noisy there).  At the top of the Atrium you have Red Bar/Blue Bar which are also ok.     The Glass House area I find to be a "not" so sweet spot even though it is close to the midships atrium.  Avoid in rough weather imo. 

I truly hope you have fair winds and calm seas for such make for a blissful cruising experience.  But if the fickle weather throws bad stuff at you just be prepared and take the precautions above and you will get through.  Either way it is absolutely nothing to be worried about.

I would like to iterate one further thing as it is your 1st time.

The experience of even moderate movement to a first timer can seem worrying and cause much anxiety.  You will hear all manner of creaks and groans from the ship and like me you may think you're going to sink.  It's natural.   The fact is the ship is extremely fine.  It can weather storms of gale force 12 and above and massive swells and I've been in them.   Each time you sail and each further degree of bad weather you experience will teach you how utterly safe you are and that there is no chance at all of the ship tipping over or sinking.  When the time comes remember these words and take them to heart.   You are safe.  The ship is fine.   It has taken thousands of batterings before and will take thousands more.

Enjoy your cruise.  Be prepared and don't worry, what will be will be and the good will outweigh any bad.   There is no finer way to travel, no finer way to enter new countries, no form of transport more majestic and wonderful.   You will never look back I am sure.    I warn you now, cruising is massively addictive.  :-)

Happy sailing

9 hours ago, drsel said:

With an all the unemployment and recession one would have expected cruise prices to fall.
but on the contrary they have risen.
I can't find any good deals for Asia

Not really surprising.

Cruise ships will be forced to take less passengers to maintain social distancing.   That's less on-board revenue for the cruise lines.  That loss will of course be passed onto customers.   Cruising, which had become more and more affordable to a wider poorer demographic, will once again go in the opposite direction and return to being the vacation of the wealthy.

However to attract the wealthy they will have to restore the significant loss in quality and services that has happened over the past 5+ years. 

As always it will be the "bread and butter" loyal older generation that feeds the industry because recessions don't affect these people.  Their pension payments continue to come in regardless.  The cruise lines were very stupid to ignore this demographic and reduce quality and service to pander to the younger party generation.   They may struggle to restore custom if they try to charge expensive prices for no increased quality and service.

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17 hours ago, drsel said:

Don't worry, I think the virus will be well under control by mid October and cruises will start by then

I think that extremely unlikely indeed.   Cruising cessation will continue to be extended probably until end of 2020 imho.

I suspect the only reason to keep extending the cessation in piecemeal chunks is to keep people guessing and thereby keep share prices volatile and buoyant.

Either way the issue is still not whether you or anyone are at risk of getting COVID-19.   The risk is that one, just one person, be it crew or passenger presents with COVID-19 on-board and as a result the entire ship gets quarantined and all ports refuse entry to the ship.

This fundamental showstopper issue has got to be resolved.  Thus far it hasn't been resolved imho.

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Not remotely tempted

What's the point?   Would you genuinely choose to put yourself in a Diamond Princess, confined to cabin for 2 weeks experience just because the prices were cheap?

I certainly wouldn't

The fact is that as far as I know the situation has not yet changed.  No cruise line that I have seen has declared publicly how it would deal with any cases of COVID-19 on-board and that frankly is the primary thing that passengers need to know.  Cruise lines appear to be hoping that people will forget or not be bothered about it and are hiding behind pithy PR pieces that state what serious changes they are making to keep everyone safe, social distancing, regular health checks and so on.

They take us for fools.

At some point they HAVE to tell us what the protocols are for on-board cases of COVID-19 and if the answer is it is the same treatment as the Diamond Princess then frankly I don't think they will get much business no matter how cheap the cruises are.

We are therefore still in a stalemate/deadlock situation.  Until cruise lines resolve this singular issue with CDC and other authorities it remains (at least for me) completely "Game Over" for cruising as a holiday.

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