Nikkipink

I will take a look, thank you

I am considering pre-cruise hotels in Vancouver and would value any insights into my shortlist of the Pan Pacific, the Fairmont Waterfront and the Four Seasons.

They all look great – and I know the first two hotels offer easy access to boarding the ship by foot and Four Seasons is located next to a large shopping mall.

Any insights please?

Thanks very much for all that information. I think a Princess excursion is the way to go for early disembarkation in San Francisco.

This will not apply to the OP's cruise as the ship will stop at Victoria, BC and thus still be in Canada.

 

Unless there is some pre-clearance done when re-boarding in Victoria, immigration will need to be done at the first USA port.

That's interesting. I found out from someone who had been on a Princess cruise from Vancouver (but to Alaska) that they went through US immigration in Vancouver when they got on the ship. At the ports therafter there was just the usual security but no immigration / customs.

That sounds great, many thanks.

Thanks for responding - if you can't remember much then that sounds promising.

I am considering a Princess cruise flying from the UK to Vancouver and then calling at Victoria BC, San Francisco and finally LA before flying back to the UK from LA.

As San Francisco is the first port in the USA I would go through US immigration there and I wonder if anyone can share any experiences please? Is immigration done on the ship or ashore? If you are on a Princess excursion do you go off earlier to go through immigration? Would this be advisable to enable me to spend the most time ashore in San Francisco. Thanks for any info.

It looks like this cruise arrives in Amsterdam at 6 pm and departs the next day at 6 pm so definitely overnight.

You can come and go on and off the ship as late into the night/early into the morning as you want with no restrictions.

On the 4 night new year cruise on Oceana a few years ago we did not get to Amsterdam due to high winds so only had one port (Zeebrugge for Bruges).

I had a lovely time but not sure if they put on extra entertainment as we were supposed to be docked. There was lots going on and at midnight there was the big countdown in the atrium and in the other public rooms.

Last year Ventura was unfortunately unable to dock in Amsterdam.

To get the discount the back to back has to be on the same ship.

Apparently this is being rolled out throughout the fleet, starting with Azura, but you pay for what you use.

Ennios is very close and Steak of the Art a little further at Ocean Village - both very good. Have a lovely cruise.

Suite passengers on Britannia can have breakfast in Epicurean but there is no outside area but is a lovely dining room albeit inside.

I am just back from my third cruise on Britannia having cruised 20 times on Ventura and up until recently Ventura was my favourite P&O ship. I have had nothing but brilliant cruises on Ventura but I have loved my Britannia cruises as it feels different and familiar at the same time on board. I do like the entertainment on Britannia very much and thought the theatre shows were excellent but if I end up travelling on Britannia as much as I have on Ventura then the shows will become very familiar but that is my fault for being a regular passenger.

Just back from a Norwegian cruise and although I've been before, I could not recall what some things cost but as I am just back I can remember some of the prices. I paid about £3 for a small bottle of sparkling water in a 7-Eleven store and in a shopping centre cafe/bakery that had some small tables nearby to sit at I paid £8.50 for a small cappuccino and a pastry.

So - expensive but I was on holiday and knew it was expensive to eat and drink ashore and just bought what I wanted.

There is info about the packages in the links below. The soft drink package is for fizzy drinks only. Apple juice and other juices are available during the morning in the self service buffet (as well as in the restaurant for breakfast).

I don’t think there is any benefit in buying advance, it is easy enough to do it on board.

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/drinks_package

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/ice_cream_package

Enjoy Azura!

I enjoyed your review, thanks for sharing. I like Azura although prefer Ventura but have travelled on all the P&O ships.

I smiled at some of your comments and can say I have had the same experience more than once regarding hair appointments and the sandwiches at afternoon tea.

I have had the pleasure of grated carrot sandwiches whereas you got coleslaw. I thought there was going to be something else inside but no, just carrot. I saw a head waiter I know on another occasion at afternoon tea and jokingly asked if there would be carrot sandwiches that day as I was shown to a table and he said of course not – I said there were some the other day. He was horrified and said he would look into it but they did make another appearance on another day.

The salon experience is typical of what I have found on the shorter cruises where the appointments for the formal nights are quite rushed as they are so busy. On the longer cruises it can still be busy on the formal nights but as there is usually more than one formal night it is not as manic.

None of these things have spoiled my cruises nor yours. Hope you enjoy Aurora.

I look forward to reading your more detailed review.

I have done short cruises and long cruises and some of the shorter ones have been more lively than others with groups of passengers celebrating various things and this has had an effect on the time taken to be served food and drinks.

My last 2 nighter was on Britannia earlier this year and although lots of people were partying on board it was more like a longer cruise and I put that down to not eating in the main dining room as I chose to eat in the Glasshouse and Epicurean for a change.

I am curious to know more about the "very limited choice on the menu" you mention in the dining room. The fairly new menus do have the starters and soups listed together now whereas before they were listed separately - but you can still have both if you wish.

I have seen the same main dining room menus on 2 nighters and longer cruises so they do not offer less choices on the shorter cruises.

We have been unlucky a few times with Guernsey at different times of the year. The water may look calm but it is quite a long tender ride and I have experienced a couple of bumpy rides when we were lucky enough to anchor off and call at Guernsey.

We never had an alternative port put in at short notice on the occasions when Guernsey was abandoned.

Hope you manage to get in on your cruises.

I always tip the porter who takes the cases out of my boot.

I know they are quick and ready to take the cases away quickly so I am also quick and have money ready in my pocket which I put in as I check out of the hotel before setting off for the last bit of the journey to the docks.

I do not understand the logic behind people saying they are not paying tips for their children.

These children eat somewhere and need clearing up after, they sleep in beds that need making and have special entertainment and facilities so to say people are not tipping for children is quite harsh, IMO. They use many facilities and are waited on and are very well looked after and therefore tips should be paid for them.

Out of the decks that are allocated 1 pm (Lido, E, F and P) only E deck is a full deck of cabins. Lido deck and P deck combined do not make up a full deck of cabins and there are only 18 cabins on F deck.

I think the gap from 1 pm boarding to 2.30 pm boarding is the "window" in which the coaches arrive and if on an official coach those passengers get boarded straight away.

As for "chancers" arriving early. People will always arrive early even if told they cannot board early and I cannot see any harm in this. Some people are unable to go shopping to pass a few hours, carry hand luggage with them wherever they go or want to leave cases in the car in a shopping centre car park.

I understand that linking the bookings only links the dining requests and not the boarding times.

P&O did initially say parties with different times could board together but at the later time but people recently have been saying that depending on who is giving out the coloured cards with letters on, they may well give you all the same to allow you to board together at the earlier time.

Boarding times are allegedly allocated according to deck, with suite and higher loyalty tier passengers being told to disregard the time on their e-tickets and board at either 12.30 pm or 1 pm as below.

Suites & Ligurian tier 12.30 pm

Baltic and Caribbean tiers 1 pm

Lido deck 1 pm

Riviera deck 3.30 pm

A deck 3 pm

B deck 2.30 pm

C deck 3.30 pm

D deck 3 pm

E deck 1 pm

F deck 1 pm

P deck 1 pm

Above is not 100% accurate but it has been confirmed by some to be an accurate reflection of times allocated on the bigger ships. We have certainly been allocated the times above in the new system a couple of times so it has been accurate for us.

When the new system came in they were quite strict but lately we have heard of people who have boarded well in advance of their e-ticket time and without even showing their e-ticket - ie the old way of boarding and getting a card with a letter on, on arrival.

Hi All,I need to ask a few questions,some may seem silly but as this is our first cruise,I just want to be sure that we are well clued up.

We are going on Britannia to the Canary isles at the end of September for our silver wedding anniversary.

 

1)It says on my cruise personaliser that there are 4 black tie nights,do we need to attend all of them or can we suit ourselves?

 

You can go to all four or any number of them, or none. If you are not wearing formal dress on these nights you will be limited as to where you can eat and drink as the main dining rooms and some bars are for passengers in formal wear only.

 

2)we have learned on here that we can take alchohol on board with us,is there a limit as to how much we can take?

 

Not really, they say "reasonable amounts" and people take on a few bottles of wine, spirits or a wine box, mixers, cans, etc in carry on luggage and you can top up by buying ashore.

 

3)How long before we go will the excursions appear on my personaliser and is it worth booking them before we go?

 

Usually 12 weeks before.

 

4)with regards to taking toiletries on board,do they need to be 100ml or less the same as when you fly?

 

No - any size in hand luggage or packed in your cases.

 

5) I take quite alot of medication and I fill up a 2 week pill organiser box,will i be able to take this with me or will i need to show them in their original boxes?,and would it be worth having a letter from my Gp as 1 of them is a controlled drug?

 

I travel with people who have various medication with them in their hand luggage (including controlled drugs) and never have they been stopped or asked about any of the tablets or amounts or for prescriptions, etc.

 

Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise - been on Britannia twice and love the ship.