PrincessPete

Hi, just some advice please. On those nights where formal attire is not required do many (or indeed any) men tend to wear jacket and tie?

I am not terribly comfortable being a "casually" dressed person in the evening being old fashioned (and liking it when the nights other than formal were jacket and tie, not open necked shirt).

I know times change and I have no problem with the relaxed dress codes......my query is whether I would look totally out of place with a sports jacket and tie on non-formal nights other, obviously, than Tropical nights.

Thanks for any guidance.

Kind regards. Peter

Hi, we have just seen our e-tickets are available for our 28 nighter on Oriana on 22 February. Although we are in one of the highest balcony grades the embarkation time is shown as 1500 hours (having said that I don't know if the higher the grade means an earlier slot but thought it might?).

Waiting until 1500 hours would make for a very long day as we are staying at a hotel in Southampton the night before.

From anyone's experience are we likely to be allowed to board the ship if we arrived earlier, say at around 1300 hours?

Any advice appreciated.

Kind regards. Peter

(I know you will have thought of this so it is not an attempt at humour). I doubt there are many daily flights from Birmingham to Malta but is it worth checking for any other flights? No idea if you could change but worth thinking about?

Of course, losing an hour with the time difference makes it worse and I understand your point about not really having any time on day one.

On disembarkation day with the Caribbean fly cruises (unless it has changed in the last few years) you do have to vacate the cabin but can stay on the ship until it is time to go to the airport. May be the same in Malta?

Only you can decide if the flight times merit cancelling the cruise but, purely as a personal opinion, it seems a bit drastic just as a result of having a few hours less on day one than you hoped.

Hope it works out for you.

Kind regards Peter

Hi Les, I appreciate this will not help you but there is an earlier thread, maybe a few weeks ago, relating to the same problem.

I also came across it when looking at a cruise we are on next month trying to see which cabins were available if we wanted to upgrade.

Depending how keen you are to make the booking I guess it's got to be the phone!

Good luck Peter

Hi all, as we are due on the Oriana for her 28 night cruise on 22 February we were somewhat concerned to read of thr mechanical issues on the cruise that finished today.

I gather she arrived back in Southampton a little early today to allow time for some maintenance to be carried out.

Any updates from those embarking today would be appreciated and we hope all goes well on the 35 nighter sailing this evening.  

Kind regards Peter 

Any idea for the Oriana Captain 22nd February please.

It would be great if it was the wonderful Mike Carr who was in charge on our last cruise on the Oriana in 2003 but as he retired many years ago I guess not 😂😂

Hi Bal, I agree 100% with your sentiments and my wife and I are from the same cruising era as you! I remember our first two cruises in the mid 1980's on the old Sea Princess (later, Victoria) with the wonderful Bill Allison as Cruise Director and his Assistant Sharon Jackson who we kept in touch with for many years.

It is "each to their own" so no brickbats please from those who don't care about the Officers - absolutely no problem. For us, like Bal, the days of parties with the Officers/Entertainers (as a result of being on the Cruise Director's dining table) was a huge part of our enjoyment.

On our early cruises we hardly saw our Daughter as she was at several Crew/Officers /Entertainers parties every night. Mind you, she was 20, beautiful (biased as we are) with long blond hair!! 😂😂😂. Kind regards Peter

Seems a strange disparity as ours were booked 5 1/2 months before the cruise (and may have been available even earlier). Most odd!

Hi, I don't think it is after the final balance has been paid. We booked  on 4 September for the 22 February Oriana cruise 2019 then booked two ship excursions a couple of days later - some long while before the final balance was paid.

Hope this may help although I don't know why April 2019 is not showing yet. Kind regards Peter

Thanks Graham. I am totally gobsmacked at this. If the cabin stewards now work 0700-1900 then not only is there no evening service but some cabins will not be serviced until 1830 hours!!

This must be a joke!!

Can the site Administrator perhaps sort out the threads please? This topic is also covered on the Brexit thread currently just above this. 

I am sure the question of once a day room cleaning will be of interest to many cruisers - not sure how threads are amalgamated but thought I would highlight the matter. 

IF, repeat IF, this is introduced for our 28 night cruise in February I will think about whether to remove the auto gratuities. I would then tip the steward less than the regular amount but would ensure our table waiters get the correct amount.

Seems to me this is all about P&O recovering monies ahead of the service charge bring removed.

Other views awaited with interest.

Kind regards Peter 

From our point of view I have to respectfully disagree with Onelung's observation. Presumably the once a day cleaning would be during "the day" meaning there would be no service at night after one leaves the cabin for dinner etc.

To come back later in the evening to a freshly cleaned cabin, including the bathroom, is one of the delights of cruising and to change this would be unacceptable, in my opinion.

Clearly it would be (dare I say, yet another) cost cutting exercise as they could obviously  drastically reduce the number of cabin stewards.

For us, paying a lot of money for cruising (OK, not as much in real terms as when we started cruising in 1984) has certain lines that must not be crossed - cabin service twice a day is one of them!

Others may disagree which I fully respect - the above is our view though.

Kind regards Peter

Thanks for the helpful replies. I note it is part of the buffet area in terms of location, but am I correct in presuming it is full waiter service?

Thanks again. Peter

Hi all, can anyone comment on The Beach House on Oriana, please? I have seen the menus online but I am not clear if the restaurant is inside or outside.

The deck plans suggest outside to me - how does that work on, say, a winter cruise to the Caribbean from Southampton? Sounds nice in the warmer climes if outside but not on the first few days and towards the end of the return leg.

Many thanks for any responses from those who know.

Kind regards Peter 

Hi, sorry I can't access the tours at present online (sounds as though we are on the same cruise, Oriana 22 Feb). Is the tour a ship excursion or a private one? Lovely as Antigua is we have been there many times so something different would be good.

Any help appreciated.

Kind regards Peter

Hi, I have received conflicting advice from P&O regarding purchasing onboard credit and whether it can be refunded if you had to cancel the cruise.

(I fully appreciate onboard credit that is part of the promotional fare can only be spent onboard and is not refundable.)

What I would like to do is purchase an amount of onboard credit in advance but only if it was refundable if the cruise was cancelled or indeed not spent onboard.

Reasons? I have had a lot of trouble in the past in getting the nightly pre-authorisations based on the day's spend removed from my Bank, after the actual total spend is taken at the end of the cruise........................plus we are on a long cruise with a fair onboard spend anticipated and do not want to carry the cash to hand in at Reception.

Many thanks for any help.

Kind regards.

Peter

Hi, (I know you will have looked at this), are there no ship excursions that will cover what you want to see? Just interested, as thinking of a similar cruise. Kind regards Peter 

No problem John, always a pleasure talking about cruising! Kind regards Peter

John, I may be missing something here but the original poster was talking about B931 and 931A embarking on 8/9 November so I don't think the October sailing has anything to do with the original question. The holidays mentioned start 8/9 November and finish two weeks later, nothing to do with October. They are part of the "normal" season hence the question why embarking a day earlier is more expensive. Kind regards Peter

That is right John for the end of the season - but the original posting about B931 and 931A refers to a November cruise so your valid points whenever the season ends don't apply to this question (unless I am missing something!).

So still not sure why the "two" cruises (really the same, with the overnight at the beginning or the end) are not the same price. Kind regards Peter

You disembark a day later as well - it's what P&O do on the Caribbean cruises to spread the arrivals/departures. Therefore an extra day is not the explanation for the higher price as the cruises are the same length. You either have an overnight stay on the ship in Barbados the day you fly in or the night before you fly home

Hi all, 28 night cruise on Oriana in February......18 sea days.....my wife will like to have about 5 spa sessions (massages, manicure etc)..........is it really necessary to book (and pay!) for them in advance or is a visit to the spa on embarkation day likely to still leave plenty of choice of dates/times.

With so many sea days she has plenty of choice when to go and it seems a bit pointless paying in advance and choosing a date - it is perhaps different with shore excursions where P&O have to liaise with external contractors etc to book coaches in advance but with the spa there is no real action required by them before the cruise.

Not having been with P&O for several years though, any comments much appreciated in case I am totally wrong and the spa gets pretty much booked in advance.

(I know there are often offers on port days but we intend to be ashore for every possible minute so will not be able to take advantage of them).

With thanks and kind regards. Peter

Many thanks Mystical Mother. We are currently booked in B231 which is about 4 cabins further aft than you were and on the starboard side. The option that has come up is B194 which is 9 cabins further forward than you were.

I am reassured by your comments as there have been a lot of adverse comments about vibration aft on the Oriana over the years but it does not sound as though it was unbearable for you.

Any other general comments about the ship and your cruise - hope you had a great time and thank you for taking the trouble to reply.

Kind regards.

Peter

Hi all, when we booked a 28 nighter on Oriana next February the only balcony cabins available were quite a way aft. One has now become available pretty much midships for a cost of £400 each extra.

I know about the vibration issues on Oriana at the aft end - would anyone be able to comment whether the midships cabin is likely to be a MUCH smoother ride?

I won't ask if anyone thinks it is worth the extra cost as that is obviously a decision only we can make - but it would be interesting to see if previous passengers can comment on the difference vibration wise.

Many thanks for any help.

Kind regards.

Peter

Thank you very much for taking the time to send such a helpful reply.

Kind regards. Peter