Cruisemeister2002

OBC, Oh what a wonderful thing to behold. Or is it ? What is it really worth given that many items onboard are hugely overpriced such as bottles of wine that you can get in say Asda or Morrisons for under a tenner costing at least double that. I ordered two glasses of wine , Sauvignon Blanc on a recent cruise and my gasted has never been so flabbered when I saw they cost me nearly 20 pounds. Another item with a huge mark up are bars of chocolate and sweets. My ideal would be that all the food in all venues was upgraded even if it cost a tenner per person per day extra. That drink at the table was cheaper instead of throwing OBC around like confetti and that if you went to the Spa it wasn't their intent to either flog you more treatments or products that if you turn down there seems to be a definite change in the attitude of staff. Not being a positive one at that. Also that it isn't compulsory to have to pay extra to get a decent sunbed. Not bothered about being away from the main group of passengers by having to pay twenty quid per person per day.

Sorry but didn't ask the Italian waiter his name, do you remember what Peroni look like ?

Obviously depends on the time of year. Travelled on Ventura to the Caribbean and USA this March/April, but wasn't actually on deck but below the domed area near the swimming pool and it was quite warm. Sadly our first Port was missed, due according to the Captain because of the weather. Think he had a better crystal ball than many of the passengers because it was announced four days before we reached Bermuda and P&O had already informed us a few months before we set sail that Key West was removed from the itinerary. Strange they still have it on next years 35 nighter. To be honest and I know I am viering away from the question. But why is it that you can now cover missed Ports on your insurance, but get no recompense from the cruise company who frankly get out of their responsibility by using terms and conditions to cover their backsides.

Hi, hope you are all well ? Inside or Balcony. We recently did a 35 nighter March through to April. We booked an inside, which frankly had never been a problem before as we had done similar cruises, same length of time but different itinerary . Sadly this cruise was the exception. Gratefully we were upgrade to a Sea view otherwise they would have needed to cart me off in a straightjacket. The cruise started badly and sadly didn't get much better. Ship five hours late into Southampton which meant that bearing in mind we had already had several hours on a coach, having already travelled a forty five minute journey to pick up said coach, then massive queues at Southampton with cases stacked high along the loading are. The ship sailed five and a half hours late. The upgraded cabin although informed it was ours had someone else's key cards in the slot outside the cabin door. I had paid nearly four hundred pounds for a Celebration Package, which took me 15 days to sort out. Many onboard were coughing and my wife ended up having to stay in the cabin for three days, don't know what it was but did a check for Corona Virus, but that was negative, then not well myself. Food onboard in MDR was poor and entertainment was poor although the two tribute acts were excellent and the food in Sindu was fabulous. The speakers consisted of day upon day of someone talking about photography. Issues regarding immigration in New Orleans, very slow and many yards of walking. Three medical emergencies and one rescue of a yacht. First Port of call was La coruna then ten days of sailing as we missed Bermuda, due according to the Captain, the weather. Although how he could know that the weather would be unsuitable to dock four days prior to docking I don't know. My belief and I must stress it's a personal belief although fellow passengers were of the same opinion was that we missed Bermuda due to the five and a half hour delay sailing from Southampton and that it was also to save money. Although judging by the numbers of fellow passengers who said they had been keeping a diary of all their issues onboard I don't know if or how much profit P&O made on that cruise. We were re-imbursed 800 pounds and a hamper. Although you can't make up for a lost holiday. Getting back to your original point, go for a balcony if you can afford it as I am not a huge fan of air con as I believe all it does is spread germs around the cabins (Again, a personal view )

Put him in the longboat and make him bail her ?

I do wonder seeing as there seems to be more and more shareholders with the required 100 shares to get extra OBC how long this particular benefit will remain. On my last cruise I got the maximum OBC of £150 for a 35 night cruise to the Caribbean and USA. On returning home the shares had gone up from my initial purchase price of £6.99 per share to £13.40 therefore I cashed them in. My reason was two fold. Firstly the obvious £600 + interest and secondly my thought regarding how many more cruises I will go on. Currently I am almost 73, will I still be cruising beyond 77 ? or four years at maximum £150 OBC, the £600 profit divided by 4. Added to that if I spend £150 onboard due to Caribbean tier I would receive a discount of £15 on that amount. I suppose for those taking more cruises than one per year the benefits would be more on the side of retaining the shares and the other thing is eventually the share price will no doubt go much higher. So it's an individual choice.

I guess with ourselves it's a bit of fear of the unknown and also watching tv where cruise lines are portrayed as being a bit too razamataz for our liking. Being of an age where yes I like to be entertained, I like as an old friend once said, going to see a pile of old stones ( Castles, amphitheatres, catherdrals etc), eating and a few drinks. What I don't want are games in the swimming pool, feeling like you have to join in something when you don't wish too and overall too much glitz. Yes I love to see the ladies in their finery and the gents in their tuxedo's and I think once a week for such occasions is ample which I believe P&O have now brought in. As for P&O as a Company standards have dropped and whilst some will no doubt say they aren't bothered with turndowns, chocolates on pillows, bags of toiletries, complimentary bottles of water, Chocoholics, a dish of boiled sweets etc I do believe these little extras made a cruise. Our last one on P&O Ventura was to say the least poor. Poor food (Except in Sindu ) Entertainment was a bit up and down where Headliners were excellent on one show and ordinary the next. Where two tribute acts were superb, but very uninteresting talks which seemed to be mainly about cameras and photography which was funny as for 50% of the cruise there wasn't a photographer onboard and even then you had to book him. Some of the Ports of call were o.k. New Orleans where we docked was quite a way from the old part so it was quite a walk and very hot. Miami where we decided to go to a shopping outlet as we had previous done the mansions, art deco and fan boat in the Everglades turned out to be an experience as the guide was supposed to give us vouchers and a map, but didn't. Was supposed to know what time we were returning to the ship, but didn't know and to make matters worse the airbridge had moved on the docks so due to this we were held in the airbridge in 91% heat, then told to go back through the main terminal to a lower gangway whereupon after about thirty were allowed aboard an American port official informed us that the dock manager had said he wanted the area cleared. After a heated discussion involving this official and most of the remaining passengers we then went back into the terminal building and waited until said airbridge was deemed safe. Found Roatan and Belize a waste of time and missed Bermuda due to what the Captain said was the weather, but how he decided 4 days before arrival I will never know. I personally link this to Ventura arriving at Southampton 5 hours late for departure and instead of sailing at around 5 p.m. it was 11.30 p.m. To be fair P&O reimbursed me to the tune of £800, but this was due to other problems unrelated to the problems listed above. In my letter to them I did say I would give them a final chance as all previous cruises had been acceptable, but varied between excellent and good.

Photo's with me is a sore subject. Why ? not because I am a great lover of someone with a camera taking photo's of you at every opportunity and charging an arm and a leg for them. But because P&O advertise on their website various packages, for birthdays, special occasions or like myself believe the ultimate Celebration Package to be a nice surprise as there's a bottle of bubby when you get to your cabin, continental breakie in bed with a 1/2 bottle of bubbly, dinner for two twice in a speciality restaurant, a facial or massage each, champagne flutes, dressing gowns and slippers (whopee) and a formal photo in frame. A tad difficult when as with our recent cruise you have no photographer and no photo frames. A photographer did appear halfway therough a 35 night cruise, but we had to book him and pay £180 for 5 photo's. Mind you, they were excellent and we were refunded for the photo and frame we should have received. But surely if they are not having a photographer onboard they should not be advertising packages that have to be paid upfront which includes formal photo and frame.

Went on a 35 night cruise to Caribbean and US in March this year. I was waiting for Radiotherapy on my prostate cancer, The cheapest I could get was £1800 through the Post Office and it was a bit no frills as well. I am 72,

It is and will always be my opinion that Carnival will always update and renew their fleet in America before they will in the UK. I don't know what Americans pay for their cruises as opposed to Brits, but due to them being more inclined to complain I think they get better overall service. Have never been on Cunard so I don't know how it compares to P&O and to be honest I don't really like the fact that depending on which level of cabin you purchase allows or doesn't allow you on certain parts of the ship. Think I'd feel like Jack on the film Titanic.

Truthfully it's an individual decision. Personally have never gone for a Saver fare I like to choose my cabin, have the onboard credit, dine at a set time and not have to pay for shuttle buses if I haven't booked a tour. I know it will probably be pointed out to me that the new ships are both freedom dining, therefore I would have to book onboard, but you still, according to P&O get priority over saver fares although I doubt this would impact too much. Priorit boarding depends on which tier you have achieved and not on whether you book Saver or Select. As for pay restuarants normally you can go onto P&O website, work out when you want to use one and book and pay for it there and then.

How long is a piece of string ? Sadly you cannot predict the Atlantic. It can be like a mill pond or be pretty rough. I have been across the Atlantic on Oriana, Aurora and Ventura. One particular cruise the Captain came on the tannoy one evening and said he expected a force 9, the following day he said it had actually been a force 12. On another cruise we were due to call in at St.John Newfoundland but due to a hurricane coming up the east coast he decided to steam away and come home, we caught the very tail end of it. But I must say that I found both Aurora and Oriana handled the weather very well. The most recent crossing was on Ventura in March this year and the sea was pretty calm. That was our 7th transatlantic crossing.

Glad you had a good cruise. Unfortunately ours on Ventura in March was possibly the worst cruise we have had on any P&O ship. Food in MDR was poor, brocolli with everything except the dessert. Problems boarding, cabin changed the day before, but it seemed they forgot to tell the crew as we received other peoples luggage, key cards were for someone else. Celebration Package I ordered and paid £399 for took 15 days into the cruise to sort out. Nightmare immigration in New Orleans, air bridge problems in Miami. Missed Key West as removed from itinerary a few months before cruise. Missed Bermuda as the Captain decided 4 days before docking that the weather was too bad. 3 medical emergencies and a rescue of a yacht that turned out to be a man in his forties who had two young girls onboard who were being trafficked. Oh, but Sindu was great and a couple of tribute acts were superb also. Added to that P&O, after a letter, gave me a £800 refund and a hamper. So I will be sailing with them again next year.

Get to twenty pounds and I might consider selling. Meanwhile i will enjoy the extra OBC.

Thought Dunlop had retyred

Hope you got through immigration o.k. thought it was a nightmare. Some didn't get to go ashore until 4.30 in the afternoon meaning two days in New Orleans ended up as one and a bit. When a ship has some 2,400 passengers and around 1,200 crew you would think that they could have a few more than five or six processing passports, esta's, finger prints and photo's. I found it quicker on a previous cruise when immigration came aboard and New York was definitely quicker than New Orleans.

Did get them on Ventura in April although not presented as well as on previous cruises. Were signed by our waiters, although a fellow passenger on our table thought that they had made a error as our names were on their menu's. Turned out that they had signed both the same. Didn't for the first time ever keep ours, except for the page signed by our waiters as was so disgusted with the poor quality and repetitiveness of the fare dished up that we threw the rest of the menu's away. I did feel for our waiter as he seemed to continually be apologising about the food which was bland, varied between warm and cold, brocolli with everything, thin custard, poorly cooked steaks which never seemed to be done as requested and the quality of desserts were nowhere near what we had been served on previous cruises.

At the moment the share price seems to be reluctant to keep above £8 although I believe an update on profits is due this month. As airlines and other cruiselines have been doing well I see no reason for shares not to continue to rise. I doubt we will see £40 per share anytime soon though.

Hope you have a great time. Sadly my recent 35 night cruise on P&O Ventura was one problem after another. P&O changed my cabin the day before departure, sadly it seemed that I was the only one aware of it as cards outside the cabin for entry and general use were someone else's, the dining arrangements were also someone else's. I had paid £399 for an Ultimate Celebration package and it took me 17 days to get it sorted properly. We got four cases that were obviously the persons luggage that were originally given our cabin. My wife was ill for a few days and I wasn't 100% for all of the cruise although when I arrived at Southampton I was fine. But the number of fellow passengers with hacking coughs was considerable. There were cases of Covid and Noroviris onboard and I had to visit the medical services due to a swollen leg/foot which meant out of about 8 pairs of shoes I took with me I could only get one pair on and ended up buying another pair when we reached land. All of which were made worse by continually queuing everywhere. New Orleans which was where we went through immigration took three and a half hours, some people lost most of the day although it was adverised as a two day stop. Bermuda which was an overnight stay was ruled out due to weather conditions, though I dispute that as it was four days before we were due to arrive there and Key West had been removed from the itinerary some months prior to the cruise. Truly about 10 days before disembarkation I couldn't wait to get off the ship.

On our recent cruise the toast was so cold the waiters served it wearing thermal gloves.

Our recent cruise meant you had brocolli with everything. The custard was so thin I've seen thicker water and some of the desserts were described as pina colada or rum infused I think they meant refused.

Sadly the onus seems to have been shifted to the passenger. Trouble is what industry hasn't ? Whether it's bank statements or online banking, insurance companies, mot's etc everything is online. But like many when I go on holiday I want a relaxing time and whilst to many to access an app isn't any great shakes to have to do that every day is frankly turning a holiday into a chore especially when you consider before leaving home labels have to be printed, boarding passes and filling in of personal information on the cruiseline website. We then have a 45 minute journey to our coach pickup point, a coach journey including a stop off at South Mims which takes five hours and then this year when arriving at Southampton queues and piles of luggage.

I think what they need to remember is that those now in their 20's and 30's will hopefully be such as ourselves be in their 60's and 70's in forty or fifty years time and they like us will still want to cruise. Perhaps it;s the fact that when you get older, you hopefully get wiser. You won't pay through the nose for things you know you can get cheaper. Many don't drink as much, go on excursions or do a DIY excursion. I have recently come back off a P&O cruise and unfortunately found it necessary to write a strongly worded letter due to the many problems we incurred. Admittedly to their credit they have compensated me, but nevertheless my first holiday in four years and my only one this year ended with me looking forward to disembarking many day's before the cruise ended.

On our last cruise in March Ventura didn't set sail until 11.30 pm so I'm not sure whether the sail aways are like they were back in 2018. I presume the brass band still plays on the quay, but I believe due to environmental issues streamers are no longer used. I would also imagine that waiters with champagne still wander about, at a charge of course.

Unfortunately in a lot of cases this happens. I remember when first cruising back in 2002 that I went to P&O directly to book and when onboard with two lovely couples at dinner was told to use some other companies that discounted quite considerably. I used these companies for some time, but as time went by two bookings I made with these various other companies they went bust. Fortunately in both instances P&O took over the bookings so I didn't lose out. I now very rarely go outside of booking direct with the cruise company. However I have had similar experiences to yourself. One particular cruise was disounted by over £1000 on my original booking and although I lost the deposit I was able to secure the same cabin at the cheaper price and still save nearly £700. So it really depends on whether you would save enough to cancel and rebook. I don't know whether it is still the case, but in our early days of cruising everyone seemed to have paid a different amount for the same cruise. Obviously if you have a higher graded cabin such as a balcony against an inside or sea view you would expect to pay more.