Cathygh

The service charge is something most cruise lines add on. On some it's 18%. I have sailed on P&O and Cunard and it does annoy me that you have to pay more for an identical drink on Cunard than you would with P&O especially as both lines buy from the same wholesaler. However the Cunard experience is superior and you are paying for a 5 star service, so why not try it and see?

Thank you @Sidari that's very helpful

Thank you, I have now got them

Sorry duplicate post

Hi Can anyone who is on Virtuosa right now post a list of the drinks menu now they are using £s? Thanks

Most of the cruises I am interested in are on Arcadia and Aurora, and too expensive for me at the moment. I usually don't shop around but my lovely agent seems to be quite pricey compared to some of the others now so I will get prices to compare

I am thinking of getting some quotes as there are some ports I like the look of but I am not sure if I will book, I want to work through the long distance ones on my bucket list first ( I have a 5 year plan, as long as prices don't go up) and then look nearer to home, if I can get a good deal.

We have also taken a bottle from Glass House to the MDR

Thank you that's helpful to know we can book kids clubs from 8. 30 am. I had heard it was 10.30 am! Btw I have heard that if there is no space in the Quays you can take your food into Sindhu. Can you find out please?

I would do Iona, unless you really want to go to Flam. (I have never been to Flam so in that case I would choose Britannia!) I believe you can buy tickets for the railway at the station. Lots to do in Stavanger from just mooching around, lots of museums to see. You can take a local bus to the 3 swords. There is also a hoho bus around the town In Olden my must do trip would be to visit the Briksdal Glacier, which you can do through P&O or you can buy tickets nearby from Olden Adventures. On the forbidden social media site, there is someone very helpful who produces port guides.

I think we all have our own reasons for choosing where we eat, and the good thing about cruises is that the choice is wide and varied. We prefer the MDR as we like to relax and be waited upon. That might change when I retire. I have never tried the buffet in the evening on P&O as I find the daytime search for a table. finding food, avoiding dropping the tray, avoiding otherpeople with trays very stressful. However we did try the buffet one night on Princess and discovered they had dimmed the lighting, and it seemed like a more relaxed environment. My other reason for choosug the MDR is that I get to eat food I don't eat at home, so the likes of the Keel and Cow and Olive Grove don't interest me. I like a fine dining experience and can't afford to do that much these days, so anything that resembles pub or takeaway food is not what I want to eat on holiday.. I'm a traditional white table cloth kind of girl, so the mdr suits me fine.

I think also there must have been a shortage of chefs too if meals took so long. And there is apparently a global shortage of alchohol. However I am geeting the feeling that the new ships are better staffed, and certainly Aurora was fully staffed for 1400 passengers on her South American cruise. I think that P&O have decided to focus on certain ships and cruises and not on Azura. Did you get the sewaage smell at all?

The pre booking is correct I believe. Book 10.30 am the day before, no use if you are off the ship at that time. Not knowing if you have a place in the evening session/night nursery till the day before makes it hard to plan. Or we can take 3 very noisy hyper boys to Epicurean on my DH's 70th birthday...

Very interesting, thank you.

I agree, for a family holiday we can only go in the school holidays and tbh I am dreading it atm. 1 grandson with adhd and sensory issues, another who is probably the same but not yet diagnosed. When we booked it I did not think there would an issue getting them into the kids clubs, which they love, there had never been a problem before (pre covid). They are fine if they have enough to occupy them, and lots of diversion. I'll need another hoilday to recover. On the subject of crew berths, it seem there aren't enough of them

@molecrochip Do P&O increase the staffing on school holiday cruises? Specifically regarding Iona and Arvia with full lower and upper berths, there seems to be a problem with long waits for drinks and lack of spaces in the Kids clubs. Whoever decided that you had to book your children in the day before on the app at 10.30 am, when you could be off the ship exploring or on a tour, has no idea what people want to do on holiday or the reality of family life when the kids are up at 6 and you need to get them off the ship for a runaround asap.

Now I have a bit more time I can give an example Upgrade to a suite is up to £1470 Family suite up to £1390 Conservatory suite upto £1080 Deluxe balcony up to £280 There is a minimum bid for each. I think the deluxe balcony is £120. I can't see the others. So I think you would pick a price you are willing to pay and hope for the best. I guess this will be the end of free upgrades.

I have just seen on another site that people who booked direct with P&O are being offered the chance to bid for an upgrade on certain cruises on Iona and will most likely be rolled out to other cruises later in the year. I am rushing off to work so I can't post more info just now. Has anyone had this offer yet?

Thank you very much,

We are on our first MSC cruise on Virtuosa soon, I have your blog to be very helpful, thank you. Can you tell me what time you have to leave your cabin by when you disembark please?

The food served in the MDR is different to what is served in the buffet. Sadly the days of silver service are long gone. I get the shorts thing in hot temperatures but the air con is very effective. My DH has never complained of being too hot in a suit inside.

If P&O are struggling to fill the bigger ships I bet they are going to let Azura or Ventura go. Azura probably and then some other cruise line can sort out that sewage smell.

Chicken twice as a choice of main course? Why don't they just bring back the always available menu? It will be interesting to see if you get chicken offered as a main in your second week.

If you book both cruises in advance I thinnk you get a 10% discount

For a basic saver with no grade specified you can be offered anything from an obstructed balcony in the worst location or better. I don't know what the alogorithms P&O use are but I gather it could depend on how full the ship is.