FamilyCruiserUK

I got a feeling as soon as royal scrap testing for cruises longer then 6 nights they will scrap testing for European ports. I think all cruises from europe are a minimum 7days. Also as long as European countries agree.

Indie was our first RCL ship out of Southampton. What we loved about it was on sea days there was more to do then just sunbathing. As UK cruises tend to have more sea days when heading down to the Carnaries or the Med, more activities are a god send esp for families. Also means you dont have kids crammed around the pool all day. Also on RCL, space is limited however on port days lots of the activities are free, ifly, surfing, rock climbing, zip lines, slides. Which is good, as not many children want to go ashore.

I didnt know they didnt market outside of the UK. However i believe when families have a choice they will learn towards other brands. Those same brands who are expanding into the british market. UK/European cruises. So back to the OP are the ships too big. No, like any business you need to diversify and have options for all cruise passengers.

The slides are extra to the main pools so in fact more children will be away from the main pool. But as always there is a "kids" season and an "adult" season. But if P&O want to push into the US market whilst in the carribean then the American passengers with kids want more then what P&O offer. We were P&O fans for a while but post having a child we are Royal fans. That said we are trying Arvia next summer.

Great post

I dont think so much the wrong ships as in the size but i do feel they keep missing the ball with onboard activities. RCl, Carnival and NCL have unique activities that people will pay extra for. ( Surfing, ifly, go carts, water slides etc). People will still cruise even during the economic crisis coming., But cruise lines will have to do more to get people onboard. More families are cruising now, so the bigger ships need to cater for families. People are stuggling i get that i really do. But at same time maybe people need to look at their finances and what they are spending money on. My neighbour was sitting in his graden yest complaining about cost of petrol and gas/electricity whilst watching netflix, smoking and drinking a beer. He dosnt work and is unemployed and not interested in working. ,☹️ Also finally, P&O would have got a much better deal buying two ships rather then 1 and newer ships much more efficient as well. But as i have said in previous posts i have no idea what market P&O are trying to get......

Agreed and hope europe cruises follow the same rules as US cruises.

Go onto rcls website, select protocols for booked guests, select port and it will tell you all you need to know. However good news is it is always evolving so keep checking.

Its a difficult one. I was on a plane about 9 weeks ago and a couple days after my track and trace was going mad, saying id been in close contact with people. This was all from the flight as that was the only place where i was near people for any length of time. I never got covid but in the eyes of the health questionnaire i would be a close contact....... I hope they stay well and it all gets sorted for them.

We have one for our child. So i would get one as they are avilable for children.

Yes go for it..i wear my mess dress when i can, complete with miniature medals. Looks smart feels smart and its a pleasure to wear it.

The staff work extremely hard so i have no issues with them not turning down my bed in the evening. I have often seen them waiting around for people to leave their rooms and do feel for them. Far more other service items i want to enjoy on my cruise rather then worrying about haveing my bed turned down and a chocolate on my pillow.

Ive just been and visited my mother in plymouth. She has a smart meter and solar panels. On her smart meter is a little plug symbol (plug wirh a lead) that shows her solar panels. When a minus (-) in front of the symbol she is using her solar panels. It gives a small reading of GW eg 1.5gw. this drops as she puts electrical items on. When the (-) disapears she is using from the grid. I also live in lincolnshire, coningsby. However we have mains elec and gas. I would imagine for the OP the elec will stay at the level of the area. I wouldnt understand if it went to the highest rate tbh. However my friends who are on oil have seen those prices rise significantly ☹️

Fantastic review thanks for taking the time to write it. We have been on the sister ship Anthem and we also found it compact and everything squished in. Have to say though i loved the Ifly and dau loved the bumper cars. However the rest of the ship dosnt do anything for me. We so far prefer the oasis class and independence. Hope you are enjoying your trip around europe. All tourists get ripped off in Paris sadly.

Now cruising is heading back towards normality i dont think P&O will have stafing issues in the future.. currently yes due to build back up post lockdown etc, but i would imagine the there would be no shortage of potential staff from the countries they recruit from. Just got to add training which will slow down on board services.

We have BA booked Lon Heathrow to Miami in Feb direct, well if they are not on strike or cancelled lol.

Emmm cant you just put the price including the local sales tax on the product..........rather then getting to the tills and then paying the tax...

Hiya. We did it the other way round. Had a couple of cruises on Ventura before trying independence with RCL. Totaly agree with you. P&O need to provide more "fun" to capture more of the family market. By that i mean a lot of the more modern ships have slides, mini golf, climbing walls, better sports etc and RCL do this very well. The oasis class ships do this very very well. P&O i am not sure where they see themselves tbh, not too formal but not too slack like carnival. But they maybe seem to think that us Brits tend to stick to British ships and that. Think of spain and having british style resorts. Im not saying all ships should follow this but family friendly seems to be a afterthought. That said after our oasis of the seas trip in Feb next year we have booked Arvia for the Carnaries next Aug from Southampton. The two week pricing was cheaper then RCLs 1 week out of Barcelona. Looking forward to trying P&O again after a few years away.

Fantastic weekend of sport for me. Went and watched my home team Plymouth Argyle for the first time in two years as i was visiting family in plymouth (work away). LH and GR came 2nd and 3rd in F1. Eng womens team are European Champions. Fantastic result.

Wow, so you would rather not do a vital public service and donate much needed blood just to satisfy your selfishness of not wearing a mask for like 20 mins. Unbelievable but not surprising anymore. Thankfully not everyone thinks like you and there should be blood if you ever need it.

And thats the correct way to do it. Too many people moan and demand changes with the rules when at the end of the day its personal choice if people go on a cruise or not. Live how you want to live, go where you want to go.

The CDC has no jurisdiction anywhere outside of the US. If a country requires testing then tough luck for any cruise ships that sail there. Ships and people will still go and accept testing. Every country rightfully has their own rules. If people dont like them dont go on a cruise to that country.

Totally agree with most of the OP. Wifi: can never understand why people need to have streaming wifi on a holiday. Supposed to be family time and relaxing time, no work and just chill. Its expensive and i always see lots of people complaining about the coverage. Specialty resturants: Way too expensive i feel for the food. Granted i dont indulge in fine dining so the MDR or even Buffet is fine for me. The quality of food i feel could possibly be down to global supply issues,, so hopefully will get better but i doubt it with the current Costs of food globally. Venues closing for covid.......i wish they wouldnt but if most of the lifeguards are in quarantine then pools will close. Hand washing: is good system on anthem having the wash starions but i guess at peak times its a long queue. Although at the MDR was just hand sanitizer..........so why cant rhat be done at the buffets.

Standard royal tbh. I dont think there are any cruises less then 6 days outside of the US. Also it states cruises out of the US, what about Europe?

I would imagine the vast majority of people who cruise have been vaccinated. I think this is evident as cruises are selling out or near capacity. The testing before hand is costing RCL a bucket load of money with their CWC policy if you catch covid post testing whilst onboard. I think vaccine will stay. Testing for vac people will stop. Testing for unvac people will continue. But will be good for royal to hurry up and tell us all for the rest of the summer season.