Plugtheleak

Maybe P&O should be talking to the new Airline Global Airways. They are talking about bringing back a complete A380 only fleet. 1 or 2 of those would help fill Arvia!

If you want to renew your vows or get married, I’d sure rather have Neil Turnbull or Robert Camby they would be great fun and make it a real occasion you’d never forget!

Don’t you get 10% off anyway when you book it before boarding plus any loyalty discount.

Just heard next port will be Southampton! 

1 hour ago, Bin man said:

Thank you very much Bin man. Much appreciated. 

We are on this cruise also, last time we had a delayed boarding it was total mayhem at the terminal. We missed early dinner sitting and expect this might be the case again.

Can anyone paste a copy of the Captains page from the most recent Moments please. They have stopped sending ours through the post. Got several cruises booked for 2024 and keen to know who the Captains are if possible.

Thank you in ad advance.

Selbourne as a matter of interest how many formal night are planned for your cruise. Last week N331 was 1 week and we expected 2 but only ended up with 1. Not sure if this was due to it being half term cruise with a huge amount of kids on board? Just wondered if the rest of the fleet might be reducing formal nights following in Iona?

On 10/26/2023 at 5:26 PM, Selbourne said:

Thanks for letting me know. Hope that you are enjoying your cruise and leave her in good order for us to board on Saturday 😂 How are you finding the food in the main dining room? Have you tried any of the supplementary cost items?

Selbourne sorry for the late reply, been a hectic few days getting home and back to work tomorrow. We thought the MDR food was very good, always something to tempt us. As far as I could see the upgrade was the same option each day, we did not take them up on it as found the regular options enough for us. The cruise was only 1 week so longer cruises the menu may get a little repetitive.

Thought the ship was generally in good order and hope you enjoy your cruise. We are already catching up on you blog!

On 10/22/2023 at 5:52 PM, Selbourne said:

Thanks Jean. We are on second sitting on Ventura next week, so I’ll be interested to see if they allow unfinished bottles of wine to be kept for the next visit. 
 

We also noticed the previously ‘always available’ items being used to pad out the menu (as opposed to just being stated at the bottom, as they used to be) but, thankfully, I like roasts on cruise ships so I always found something that I was happy with!

 

We don’t miss the evening turndown either!

We are on Ventura right now first sitting no offer to hold half bottles of wine.

As a matter of interest who is appearing in the Limelight club on your cruise?

We are on Iona next week and have La Roux struggling to convince the wife and her mother it will worth seeing.

We had Neil on a Christmas cruise on Aurora, we thought he was one of the best Captains we had had. We looked forward to his updates and he gave a commentary on our passage into Oslo which was really informative. 
 

I’d rather hear some of his old jokes than have the virtual Captain, when you hardly hear from them and wonder if they actually aboard. 
 

22 minutes ago, binman2 said:

Wes

Wesley Dunlop till the 8th July

Fantastic news thank you binman2, much appreciated 

Can anyone confirm who is the current Captain of Iona? We are on cruise G321 leaving Southampton on 1st July so starting to get excited now only 3 weeks to go. We are taking my wife’s mother, her first cruise so wanting things to be as good as possible. The Captains announcements can really add to the experience IMHO.

thanks

40 minutes ago, pinky12345 said:

Hi,

We are booked for Arvia in October. Does anyone have any recent MDR menus. Also does anyone have experience with dietary requests and how they are handled with freedom dining. Haven't cruised with P & O for many years so a bit out of touch. 

Thanks Nicola 

 

Can’t help with the recent menus but my wife is dairy intolerant, we always make sure this noted at booking and there is normally a letter waiting for us in the cabin. It works best on fixed dining as you waiter gets to know you and your needs. However on freedom dining, make sure on the first night you tell your waiter your situation. He will then most likely inform the head waiter and they normally bring the next days menus for you to pre-order. On the next night you just tell them you have preordered and they will pick this up via your room number. In freedom dining it is a bit more clunky in our experience. Hope that helps

Remember to pack your swim wear in your hand luggage as you large luggage can arrive later in the day.

I also like Silk and Spice but they did not have it the whole week on Iona in February half term cruise. Disappointing as I was really looking forward to drinking this very nice wine again. Excellent advice to check availability prior to purchase. I bought my package before travel but you do not get any discount so probably won’t bother next time.

Yes they will post a letter outside your room with details of the time you have been allotted and where you will be held. You can ask for a specific time a few days before the end of the cruise but it is on a first come first basis.

Nice bar but always very cold!

Looking at the first picture I'd say it was a printing mistake as normally each side of a ship are almost a mirror. 

12 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

I never understand why anyone is interested in who the Captain is.  As long as they know what they are doing, and I presume they all do, what difference do they make?

I would have to say it does make a difference to our enjoyment and experience. As some have said some Captains are not seen and only address the guests a few time a cruise and with very short to the point information. Our favourite is Neil Turnball, I know not everyone's cup of tea but he is always informative and adds a few jokes which really makes us smile. Robert Camby also excellent, on a previous cruise last year on Ventura, they changed Captains half way through, what a difference, with the second Captain we got 6pm announcements and an all together better people person. They are transporting people and if they aren't people people there are plenty of container ships out there!

When booking a cruise recently it defaulted to Aft cabins first when I indicated I wanted to chose a cabin. So this might be why these are getting booked first. Also I it is easy to get to the buffet and then straight down to the MDR's in the evening. We pick this area by choice.

After our last cruise on Iona, we were asked to complete a survey. One of the comments we made was why could one of the restaurant not be allocated to Club dining? We are I would say in the sweet spot for P&O as we are 45/46 yrs old with teenage children. As my wife has a dietary requirement we find club dining works best for us as we build a good working relationship with the waiting team. Also the head waiter knows where to find us.

Is anyone on  Ventura now and able to report back which pay extra dinning options are open please. We sail in just over 2 weeks. 

We are booked on  Ventura for N222 which looks to be the same itinerary as this one. Great to here you had a good time and we are getting excited now for our trip. So to my question, which of the pay extra restaurants are open?