Slugsta

Thanks for the update. I'm glad that you enjoyed your cruise after all the aggravation.

One cruise on Oriana, there was a glitch with the door which would almost close and then swing open again. It made things 'interesting' but, fortunately, was easily fixed.

This seems to have passed me by, had I not read this I would probably have thrown away anything I might have found!

No, gratuities are currently $14.50 per person per night in the Britannia restaurant (ie, basic cabins ).

The other thing I would urge is using whatever assistive devices you need before you become too exhausted/sore/etc. I would rather use my chair to get somewhere and then enjoy myself, rather than wearing myself out getting there and being in too much pain to enjoy myself.

We are back in Helsinki in May and our ship is overnighting there. We have been to the church in the rock and the island fortress so are looking for something else to do - especially in the evening. We don't really want to take out a mortgage for an evening meal and are not into clubs ( my hubby is in his 70's, I'm in my 60's and we both like classical music). Any suggestions please?

I am so sorry that some of us are still subjected to prejudice simply for who we are 😥 @ged1967 Your story reminds me of my mother when we were on a coach holiday together - On the coach behind us were 2 men and across the aisle 2 women, all of similar ages. Mum had assumed they were 2 straight couples travelling together, the women sitting together to natter and the men relegated to the other seats (I confess that was also my first thought). One day, the men were on the coach but not the ladies. 'Oh' says Mum, 'The wives are not here today'. I replied that we had been mistaken and the gentlemen were travelling together (after all, I had no idea of their actual relationship). 'Yes' says Mum 'Their wives are not here today' so I repeated that the gentlemen were travelling together. It took about 4 of these exchanges, Mum - being a little deaf - not speaking quietly and me trying to make myself heard (in both senses) before the penny dropped. She blustered a bit and said that what other people do was not her business. The gentlemen concerned just smiled quietly . . .

I certainly found both Arcadia and Iona to be quite chilly.

We are doing an overnight in Helsinki in May (onboard Queen Victoria) and are wondering what to do in the evening. We are not into clubs etc and don't want to spend a fortune on dinner. Does anyone have suggestions please?

What is a 'snowy nova' please?

I wondered whether the lack of a post-cruise survey was because I hadn't given 10/10 on the 'first impressions' one!

I was a bit concerned about the 1920's theme as I don't have the figure for a flapper dress. I'm glad to hear that I won't be out of place in an ordinary evening dress.

I get my correspondence from P+O via email. I haven't had a post-cruise survey for either of our cruises since the restart (and they didn't go into my spam folder either).

Sounds like a rather different game from the Chinese rules that we play!

And how about a hot summer in the UK and northern Europe? . . .

I've found it quite chilly in the public areas on our last couple of cruises!

One thing to consider is that P+O charge a flat fee for adult passengers which takes no account of reduced admission for those who are older or disabled. We did the aquarium in Barcelona and zoo in Valencia for much less than the P+O price (even allowing for taxis in Valencia) as my OH got in free as my carer. Even without this, we would both have had concessionary entrance as we are retired.

Was the 'lurch' in Southampton related to the money spent in the bar?? 😂

I don't fly, so the only way to get across the Atlantic is to cruise both ways. We have only done it once, thus far (have another trip booked for next year), and really enjoyed it. We went to the Eastern seaboard of Canada so took the northern route and it was certainly cool. Next trip is to New York, Boston etc so it will be more of the same. There was lots of entertainment on board, including the usual quizzes, bridge, choir (bring back 'proper' choir sessions ASAP!), talks etc. We also had jewellery making sessions and a murder mystery (run by a retired police officer who also did some very good talks). My theory is that the brain knows how many sea days are due and is ready to get off at the end, be that 2 days or 7. It was great to arrive at ports well rested and we appreciated the lack of jet-lag when we got back, even if the run of 23 hour days eastbound was a bit tiring (I usually have an afternoon snooze anyway).

Thanks, I will reassure them (and send them the link to this thread).

I have friends who are keen line dancers and have booked their first Fred. cruise. They are asking whether there will be line dance sessions as there are on other lines.

They were certainly in evidence when we disembarked Iona on Saturday.

I was worried about the lifts appearing smaller but they seemed to manage even the larger scooters. They don't have mirrors at the back, which makes reversing out more difficult. I am thankful to everyone who waited patiently for me to turn around in my chair when I entered an empty lift, and to those (the majority) who were generally helpful and considerate. No thanks to those (I am sure none of them are here) who appeared out of nowhere when a lift arrived and piled in ahead of the people who had been waiting . . .

We were on this cruise too, our first on Iona, and agree with most of the comments. Lack of daytime entertainment was an issue. OH was disappointed that there was no bridge (hosted or unhosted); I found 30 minutes sing-along (AKA 'vocal workshop') inadequate; there was only one real speaker (other than a single talk by an artist), the rest of the talks were really just promotional things from the many shops onboard. Why weren't the talks shown in the cabin afterwards as they used to be? We had plenty of OBC and ate in most of the speciality restaurants. We managed the Olive Branch twice via the virtual queue (once for a late lunch, and again on the last evening). The first time at the OG, service was terrible and it took 45 minutes to order and get our starter, the second time was much better. We thought it was a shame that the Keel + Cow and Glass House aren't partitioned off in any way, especially the evening there was show in the atrium and people crowded around the tables to watch it while people were eating. OH always likes to see magicians and we enjoyed his show. Really enjoyed The 4 Harps, thought both comedians were 'adequate' at best. We also enjoyed the toucan in the Sky Dome show! The ship was generally bright and airy, our accessible cabin was good and our 'hump' balcony a great size. It was covered but I'm not a sun worshipper so that suited us. I did find that I was generally cool onboard and took home clothes that I didn't wear as they weren't warm enough. We didn't see our cabin steward after the first day but have no complaints about him. We would certainly go on Iona again if the price and itinerary were right, but she wouldn't be our first choice.

@longstrider Don't forget the issue of space if you are going to share a taxi. I say this because my chair + our cases fill a taxi with no room for other people. Of course, some people travel considerably lighter than us!