Denarius

I've just got the Baltic one plus pins from Cunard and Celebrity. How I got them I don't know as I have only cruised with them a few times!

Pleased to read that. As a solo traveller I have always found drinking at the bar to be a good way of meeting and socialising with fellow passengers. To sit at a bar is a way of inviting social interaction in a way that sitting at a table is not.

The only time I recall having received a P&O lapel pin was when I was elevated to the Baltic Tier. Could be because I went from Gold in the Portunas to Caribbean in the Peninsular, and you only get them on "promotion". It is still in its little bag unopened. Can't see the point of them myself, and have never seen anyone wear one.

I thought the Sunset Bar to be a wasted opportunity. This could have been a pleasant place to spend an evening, with subdued lighting and possibly occasional low key live music. Like the equivalent bars on Celebrity ships. Instead, half the bar is colonised by the Beach House and reserved for diners, the other half is a smoking area and covered with a permanent cloud of smoke.

I started cruising in 1994 with Cunard. Since then I have sailed mainly with P&O - 33 times - but also with Cunard, Costa, Celebrity, Saga and Star Clippers. Had I only sailed with P&O I would have considered myself well qualified to comment on the relative merits of the different P&O ships on which I have sailed, and changes in the experience they have offered over the years. I would not however, have felt qualified to compare these with other lines. To see P&O in context you need to have something to compare it with.

A few years ago I dined with the officer responsible for provisioning on a P&O ship and was surprised to be told that most of the provisions were loaded in the UK, even if the ship was to be based in an overseas port. If this is still the case, then Moleys assertation rings true.

Obviously done by someone who is not aware that the term MIstress has multiple interpretations in the English language!

Quite amazing. Hate to think what a single would cost. Makes the £5909 I paid for a single balcony cabin on my forthcoming 17 night cruise on Spirit of Discovery (Saga) seem cheap by comparison.

Could be just supply and demand. Rising inflation and mortgage rates may have dampened the family market at which the big ships are aimed. The older passengers who tend to favour the smaller ships may have inflation linked pensions and no mortgage, so may be less affected.

Can you now sit at the bars?

I know what you mean. I first went to Mykonos in the 1990s, for a land hoilday. The cruise boom was yet to come, and what ships there were usually carried 600 - 800 passengers. The new cruise terminal did not exist. On the rare occasion that there was a ship in port the town absorbed the passengers reasonably well. But I hate to think what the place would be like with several large ships each spewing out several thousand passengers.

In 2019 we lay at anchor just outside the old port, ie Mykonos town, and tendered in. This has been the case whenever I have been to Mykonos with Star Clippers, although things could have changed. The out of town dock appears to be used by large cruise ships for which the old port would not have sufficient tender capacity.

I never claimed that it was not, if you care to re read my post. I merely took issue with a previous post which implied that the change in wording was a matter of clarification rather than a change in policy.

This change goes way beyond clarification. Old wording "Enjoy a miinimum saving equivalent to the VAT ..." ie, a minimum saving of 16.6% New wording "Enjoy a saving of up to 15% ...." ie, a maximum saving of 15%. A minimum saving of 16.6% has been replaced by a maximum saving of 15%.

Have been on this sailing a few years ago. Unless things have changed, the ship lies at anchor just off shore and those who have booked tours are taken off. There is no port and those who have not booked tours can only remain onboard. The most underwhelming stop on any of the Star Clippers sailings I have undertaken. Sorry!

Just returned from Royal Clipper two days ago, on Sat 11 June. Situation onboard was as follows. Antigen (lateral flow) test required within 24 hours of embarkation - this was at 3pm. If you could not comply, a test could be administered in the cruise terminal before boarding. Proof of vaccination also required. Ship fairly full but not totally so - no actual figure given, best estimate about three quarters. Masks required inside the ship apart from in cabin, in bar and in restaurant. Restaurant table allocated on first night to be used for all meals during cruise - this impacted adversely on sociability. Some bar stools and seats in bars out of action to enforce social distancing - ditto! Apart from seating, restaurant and bar operating normally, as was library. Temperature check on entering dining room for dinner, and when embarking ship after port visits, but not overtly intrusive. Not aware of any covid cases identified onboard. Overall, I enjoyed the sailing but not as much as I would have had covid protocols not been in force; the atmosphere onboard was noticably less sociable than on my previous Star Clipprs cruises because of them. Hopefully things will eventually return to normal.

I have been following this thread with interest as I travel to join a cruise (not P&O) which requires a negative supervised lft on Saturday. I suspect that a major problem is that many countries no longer require a negative covid test for entry, even for those not vaccinated. Italy (from where I sail) was the latest to remove the requirement yesterday. Cruise companies are bucking the trend but the number of people going on cruises only represents a small proportion of the travel market. So demand has fallen to such an extent that some high street providers no longer find it cost effective to offer tests, which will increasingly become the province of specialist travel clinics. My travel agent was able to recommend one such clinic, but had I needed to rely on the high street I would have struggled.

Agree. Pity that he was eclipsed by Dame Edna!

Do not necessarily agree with your first paragraph. You assume that those in black tie would only be permited to use the restaurant in which it was obligatory. But on the cruise to which I referred they were permitted to use either. In practice the majority of passengers would probably wear black tie on formal nights even if formal dining was available for those who chose not to. This was certainly the case on the Saga cruise. So one restaurant was occupied only by those dressed formally, the other a mixture of formal and smart casual. It worked well. The only problem would occur if a majority chose not to adopt black tie, but should this occur regularly it would surely call into question the future of formal nights if they were clearly not supported by the majority of passengers.

Including many which are much more "up market" than P&O; Viking, Oceania, Azamara, Emerald, Star Clippers, and Regent Seven Seas for example. Indeed, as a general rule the more up market a line is the less formal the dress code, althouth there are of course exceptions: Saga for example.

On some ships electricity in the cabin is controlled by a slot just inside the door into which you need to insert your cruise card to turn on the lights and in some cases the power sockets. There is usually a short period of grace after you remove it to enable you to leave the cabin without having to do so in the dark.But it does not need to be your cruise card, any credit card sized card will work. So take an old card and use it for this purpose.

When I sailed on SofA in late March there was a pack of face masks in my cabin, together with a pocket sized bottle of hand sanitiser (there was a larger bottle on the cabin table) and a pair of surgical gloves (purpose of which uncertain!) I was a single passenger, I assume that a couple got more. If you wanted more face masks, they were available free of charge at reception.

31 July, to the Baltic.

This represents some relaxation since I was on SofA 2 months ago. Masks had to be worn inside the ship at all times apart from whilst eating or drinking, although you were permitted to remain unmuzzled between courses in the restaurants. Hoping that things get a little more like normal before I sail on SofD in late July.

Just for clarification. Whilst the grill offers a buffet at breakfast and lunch it is a proper restaurant not a cafeteria. It has a formal reception desk where you check in and are allocated and escorted to a table. Apart from the food everything at breakfast and lunch is waiter served.