alvin moondust

Having Previously cruised with P&O three times, we recently had our first cruise on Celebrity, We were led to believe that Celebrity was a step up from P&O but we did not find this to be the case, Eclipse is a fabulous ship and we did enjoy it overall, and it had Pros and cons Versus P&O.

We were already talking about taking a Caribbean cruise on Eclipse but returned home to hear the news that formal nights were going. I can only assume this is to suit a more casual American market, and while we may only be a small party its a deal breaker for us as we really enjoy the dressing up nights as its something we rarely get to do at home, and we have no intention of dressing up to find ourselves at a table with a bunch of people in Jeans. We are not Snobs or Posh but cruising should be a smart and glamorous experience! so that's around $12,000 of income Celebrity have lost from us next year! I am sure P&O are very happy to hear this news

Hi everyone

First post here for me so apologies if the question has already been answered.

We have booked our first Celebrity cruise on Eclipse in October and always enjoy the formal night dressing up, Am I correct in thinking an eleven night cruise would have three formal nights?

Thanks

Unless you happen to be on a maiden voyage, you will find wear and tear on any ship. But generally we have found Azura and Ventura to be very nice places to spend a holiday, Certainly better than any Caribbean hotel we have seen.

I do have to admit to seeing a maintenance sticker over a urinal on Azura saying it was undergoing repair and it was dated five months earlier:eek: Not sure how long it takes to fix a loo.:)

A few years ago we upgraded to a Deluxe Balcony cabin on Ventura, it was on E Deck i think cabin 721, It was toward the rear of the ship but it was a great location, but the ship was so stable that you never really noticed any movement at any part of the ship. Maybe in rough sea you would feel a little more at the rear. We have sailed on Azura twice and had mid ship standard cabins on higher decks both time, They were quite a lot cheaper but just as nice and fine for a one week cruise

Ventura....Go for it:)

Im confused by this, We have cruised three times with P&O, Each time we have enjoyed the atmosphere and the environment, and generally the entertainment has been a good standard. The lounges and bars are comfortable and inviting with plenty of seating and generally very quick waiter service.....

So what are you suggesting we would be paying extra for...some nibbles.

And the only way for this to work is to remove one of the existing bars from general use and start charging for it, or have a show that starts at around midnight after the other entertainment has finished, In which case you would be paying to sit in the same place everyone else sat in earlier at no charge?

It is also another step away from the concept of All Inclusive cruising, We already pay extra for certain restaurants, Reserved deck areas, Spa use etc etc, Where does it end?

Thanks....I think:p

Hello everyone,

I wonder if you can tell me whats going on aboard ship on Sea days? We have previously sailed with P&O and there are movies, pub quizzes, lectures, afternoon tea, deck games etc.

Can we expect much the same from a Cunard ship

Thanks

Should that read the other way round? Why would you want an obstructed view?

Thanks

Yes it is the 7th of December. VERY tempted by this as its a fantastic offer for ten nights and we have never been on a Cunard ship!!:)

Its fair to say that you have been on a P&O cruise ship and NOT on a P&O Cruise. I fear you were expecting rather too much. We have done three cruises with P&O and found the service to be excellent at all times

We have done Norway twice on Azura now, once this year in early May and last year in late May. Weather last year was glorious all week and this year a bit mixed with some rain and some sun, and a bit cooler.

Here is our video from 2013 which some people have found useful, I even got recognised by a couple of people this year who asked where they knew my face from LOL:D after watching it.

Steve

We had a lovely afternoon in Liverpool yesterday. The Queen Victoria looked magnificent in the sunshine, The Three Queens really are attractive looking liners compared to so many of the slab sided cruise ships you see. There was a great atmosphere down at the dockside and the ship was given a great musical send off. On Friday a guy in a water powered jet pack flew up the side of the ship to the docking platform and shook hands with the skipper:D

Ive never experienced anything like that at any port we have docked in so it must have been great for the passengers and crew to receive such a warm welcome and send off. I think Liverpool would make a fantastic starting point for a Transatlantic cruise, with the stunning waterfront and fabulous old buildings as a backdrop.

I look forward to May next year when all three Queens will be in Liverpool together

Hello Cristophe

This subject has been raised a hundred times on this forum and every other cruise forum on the internet. With five minutes of research you would see that it is VERY common practice for all cruise lines to offer late deals if a ship is not full.

You can choose to book early and get the exact cabin you want, dining option you want, and possibly on board spend or free parking etc, Or you can wait till last minute and take a gamble that the cruise does not sell out completely. You also gamble on getting a poor cabin or location, a dining sitting that does not suit you etc.

You must make your own choice.

Either way have a fantastic trip and enjoy your cruise.

Thanks for the replies

Good evening all,

Can anyone tell me the planned arrival and departure time for the Queen victoria this coming Friday at liverpool

Thank You

So how much actually is this package?

Hi Fred

Having just returned from our second Norway cruise, all be it on a larger P&O ship I can tell you the scenery is fabulous, We commented last week how nice it would be to take a smaller ship or one of the Hurtigruten vessels to see some of the more remote places along the coast and also to travel further north.

We have enjoyed a Caribbean cruise in the past but there is something amazing about sailing ninety miles inland between towering snow capped mountains

Steve

If you want to eat in Verona then get there early as there are a limited number of places. We tried to eat there for the first time last week and arrived at 8:15 only to be told it was full and all pagers had been handed out. We had not realised it was quite limited in numbers, luckily we had time to divert to the main dining room for 8:30

Guess we are in the minority then:D and to be fair the food was always served hot. However we were never offered or told about extra veggies!

Having just returned from a week on Azura (our third cruise all with P&O) we felt a little disappointed that the service has changed in the Main Dining Rooms. The lack of silver service of the vegetables and accompaniments made it seem a bit less special. Dont get me wrong the food was very good but delivering the whole meal ready plated meant you did not get to choose what you wanted, We were very disappointed on several occasions to be served the main course with a scoop of Mcdonalds style Frozen fries.:mad:

It also meant picking out veggies that you didnt like or would choose.

The cruise was very enjoyable as ever but the dressing for dinner and the atmosphere and service in the MDR is an important factor for us when choosing P&O, and I can only assume this is a cost saving exercise??

Does anyone feel the same way or are we just being too critical. It seems trivial but we are considering looking elsewhere for our next trip.

I thought the Captain was quite open and forthcoming, He said enough to explain what had happened without making it sound like it was a big incident.

It was a bit of a shame that there were no Pizzas available after that though:(

just back from Azura yetserday.

The Thermal suite is great but on a one week cruise we find its hard to find the time to use it and justify the cost.

The Oasis pool is adult only and free to use and its quite sheltered so fine to use in the Fjords. The only downside is when its raining, The rain drips from the overhead structure straight in to the hot tubs, or on your head LOL

We were on board too. I think the alternative stop was very pretty and we got some great photos of the waterfall, and Azura with the snowy valley in the background.

Celebrity Eclipse visited Geiranger and docked no problem on the previous day, so obviously some sort of political fighting going on

Hi Alvin

 

I was waving to you from my balcony, we have sailed on Azura twice and whilst we had a great time on our 5 P and O cruises we prefer Celebrity, Eclipse and Equinox are great, especially the food and the staff

 

The tips are more expensive, but in my opinion worth the better service and ambience, the ship is spotless, the toilets are far superior, and the cabin bathrooms are so much better

 

We always believed Celebrity to be more expensive but there are great deals to be had, this particular cruise was far less for us than what we were going to pay for Azura , and it was an extra night

 

We had a drink package this time, we paid extra for it, so it worked out cheaper this time as the drinks are expensive, I would definitely get a package again.

 

The trips are expensive, the train at Flam was £69 each, if I had know how easy it was I would have booked it direct for half the price

 

Btw what what was the reason you had to miss Geiranger ?

That was another reason we liked Celebrity more, better ports etc.

we have missed out on to many ports on our cruises with P and O for one reason or another

Thanks for the reply, We also paid £62 each for the Flam railway. £30 of which was for a P&O Rep to walk us the 200 yds to the Train!!:mad:

We were not allowed to dock in Geiranger by the Port authority, The Captain was pretty furious and seemed to think it was political infighting in the port. Fortunately we docked eight miles away and it was a beautiful spot so we were quite happy.