davecttr

When I was younger I travelled by train and stayed in the Premier Inn West Quay the night before. As the railways are not reliable any more and I am getting older I have been using a private hire car direct to the terminal. However for my next few cruises I am reverting to travelling the day before and the hotel stay. Not by train though.

Take what it says on the P&O site with a pinch of salt as the reality can be different. For example the formal nights are planned but might be changed due to weather etc. My 14 night Aurora cruise has 3 listed and my 21 night Arcadia cruise has 6 listed.

If you have priority boarding there should be a separate priority queue. There was no standing queue in my case but there were about 150 people seated in the Suite/Baltic/Ligurian and Caribbean areas. They send assisted boarding through security first then the Suite etc followed by Caribbean. I imagine if you arrive after your priority boarding time you go straight to priority check in and then straight to security, bypassing the assembled masses. So are correct, there was a fast queue, except after it was checked in it was seated awaiting security to open.

IIRC there are a lot of security scanners in the Ocean terminal. what I don't understand is why security does not open until 11.45. on my April Arvia cruise I had a 12 noon boarding time with priority boarding. The case went through the wall at about 11.20 and there was a queue outside the terminal. there was a steward at the head of the queue so i showed her my boarding pass. Go through here she said and up the escalator to the priority boarding desks. I sat in the priority seating area until security opened and on the ship by 12 noon. my cabin was not ready until after 2pm but that is a different story

Sorry to butt in. My next 3 cruises are on Britannia, Aurora and Arcadia. Which terminals do they use?

Basically Marella have dropped Ex UK cruises because there is more profit to be made in fly cruises and maybe they don't have the problem of increasingly severe environmental restrictions. Saga too expensive and formal. Fred too old and formal, Ambassador too formal. I enjoyed my many Marella cruises but I don't want to fly nowadays and you can't book a balcony on Marella, plus they are expensive and i don't drink much nowadays. i want more choice of cabin location than the 'ghetto' on the lower decks. Marella 14 night cruise to Adriatic and Greek Islands over £3,000 for an outside cabin. P&O 21 night cruise to Norway and Iceland £1799 for a balcony plus £150 OBC. My next 5 cruises are with P&O I enjoyed my over 25 Marella cruises though

What ongoing bug problem? On Arcadia or ashore?

That's because it is not a Glass House. They are attempting to add some dining variety to a 18 year old ship that needs an extensive upgrade to its dining options. There are mid sized ships older than Arcadia with more dining options after an extensive and expensive mid life update. I think she is due an extensive refit?

Did your friend catch the stomach bug onboard?

And imagine the reaction of USA Carnival shareholders, CARNAGE. They are not 'musn't grumble' UK shareholders.

My research has The Crows Nest on Arvia/Iona as the only bars requiring formal dress on Celebration nights. It may be Sindhu as well. I checked Andersons and the celebration night code was evening casual. However because it is close to the MDR it will be full of suited people so prepare to be glared at if you go in there.

Sorry to see you go Meg, hopefully the rest of the cruise will go well.

My next cruise on Britannia has a Haugosund stop. I will not be getting off even if there was a free shuttle. I have been there twice and not much to see in town

For information these are the berths at Palma Yellow - Arvia Green - RoRo berths Red - original cruise berths Blue - nearest public transport No1 bus terminus In the olden days Ocean village use the Arvia berth at times, as did Thomson

5632 has a sofa bed so it is a 3 berth cabin. Looks like a quiet location too with just the Restaurant on the deck above.

How did you guess, and i only played it once

With a LOT of select cruisers aboard they may well have taken many cruises with P&O, are the older generation who a survey has found do not spend much on board and probably don't go on many excursions. So for them it is go on the free shuttle early and be back in time for lunch. No they won't spend ashore, after all as a lady said loudly on one of my previous cruises. 'lets try the MDR, I don't like any of this foreign muck'. It was Spanish theme night in the buffet 🙄

We had shuttle chaos in Valencia a few weeks ago plus P&O did not mention the free port shuttle for the 1.5 mile walk to the port gate & terminal. Those who were going to the beach would have appreciated that. Later in Marseille we had loads of shuttle buses.

I wonder if all the people queing are select fare and getting a free shuttle journey. there is an alternative. the terminus for a local bus is just over a 1000 yards from the berth. It runs through Palma to the Airport. bus No 1, runs at 12 minute intervals. i have used it several times in the past to get into Palma when the ship is docked at the 'distant' berth

Just checked, this is what they say, those prices are the minimum bids for 2 people Upgrade offers are priced per person and based on two guests sharing a cabin. If you are sailing solo, you will be charged 200% of your offer amount. So the minimum bid for a solo cruiser in a mini suite would be £1900

I think it is before?

The 8th

I was invited to bid for an upgrade this morning. Arcadia 21 nights in August. Midship Suite from £1910pp Aft Suite from £1620pp Mini Suite from £950pp As I have an early saver EF grade balcony solo occupancy for £1799 I don't think I will bother bidding.

Is it easy to get from Portsmouth to Southampton? I could travel there by train a couple of days early and visit the sights before travelling to Southampton for the cruise.

I have started to use bustimesdotorg a web site not an app. I check if the bus i want to catch has just left Chatham by looking on the map. The bus icons are colour coded by company . I click on the 132 icon and from there you get the bus info. At least you know that one is running.