john watson

If you look at world cruises often there is a ship crossing last leg of world cruise which can be booked plus a Queen Mary2 in the opposite direction. There are also new builds coming out of Europe which can be combined in a similar way. Regards John

Dress code encountered on Princess is similar to P&O. However I should say Alaska and Hawaii probably not as dressy. Ex UK cruises on Princess cruises that I have been on seem to be very similar level to P&O. Hope this helps. John

I just checked and you are correct. Logically you would take all features already on the fleet and not get very far in the design Regards John

Horizontal elevators like on the Carnival Pinnacle Project. Regards John

Is there an Insurance link or availability on poamerica.com ? Regards John

I understand, David. I never thought for a minute you were suggesting to not bother with insurance it is just that some people might infer that because it is not looked into by the cruise line to try and behave in an irresponsible manner thinking they are saving what it in many cases a fair sum of cash. The risk is enormous if you are helicoptered off the ship or it diverts to an unscheduled port. Regards John

3rd and 4th passengers are generally priced at a base rate, irrespective of cabin grade. This makes it attractive to book higher grades. Most groups divide by four or three amongst themselves to achieve a pro-rata price unless it is a family group. Fly cruises tend to have a different structure due to flat rate airfares for all passengers. Regards John

I should say that major rivals to P&O are likely to be alternative UK and foreign package holidays. Many people I know compare a cruise to a land based holiday. This type of holiday would likely attract a huge number of people who P&O try to attract their way. Warners Leisure Hotels short breaks are a major consideration as against a P&O taster cruise for example to a certain age demographic. Regards John

I think you are correct and as such only very silly people do not bother to acquire any. Regards John

You could try a day at Maho Beach plane spotting. There are facilities there and a timetable of flights for spotters. It is world famous, check it out on YouTube. Regards John

I was under the impression that all partly used bottles of wine were stored at a single depository or at least recoverable by the staff even if you dine at different restaurants after a bottle was started. Regards John

I should tell her if she registers her own card against her own named cruise account she will likely qualify for her own free on board credit allowance. Lol John

The original film "Carry On Cruising" was based on a P&O ship Oronsay. In respect of your mentioning saga, I don't think you will get a good firm sausage on that cruise line matron.. Regards John

It looks like it returns to the QE2 terminal on the 24th. The ships and terminals are all posted on illuminated signs as you drive to the docks and if you use CPS they move the cars to the appropriate terminal. Regards John

I had a look at this and there is a 07.25 train direct to Southampton Central (no changes) gets there at 11.43 Standard fare £59.30 which would leave your option as a fall back. However the 08.25 train direct to Southampton Central (no changes) seems to arrive at 12.44. The fall back options to the later one seem to involve changes at Birmingham International or more intermediate stations. I like to travel day before and stay at port overnight but this adds costs. Through trains reduce stress. Regards John

I should say firstly, if it is your first ever cruise you have no other ships as a comparison. Secondly due to the covid-19 situation many cruise lines dispensed with their older ships. Conversely those cruise lines operating the oldest cruise ships tended to switch those for superior second hand ships from the larger cruise lines. The sort of ships like Black Prince whilst nostalgic went years ago. Regards John

Generally Grand Class, named after the biggest cruise ship in the world at that time Many people consider sub divisions of the Grand Class. Regards John

Some cruise lines announce the group next to disembark quietly in the relevant lounge and have very small coloured gangway passes. One could wait all day by the gangway not realising you group went twenty minutes ago. Regards John

The staff in this case are not P&O they are working for the port and implement produres consistent with UK Border Force .Regards John

Princess have a much larger number of smaller colour groups waiting at specific places. They also have a coloured baggage tag counterfoil to show at the gangway. Announcements are made at the various meeting points and those of that colour group disembark together. The idea is that it prevents everyone waiting at the disembarkation doorway, blocking it but then waiting for your group announcement as it is not audible there. I think the difference between P&O and Princess is that P&O do not have a Gatwick early, late Heathrow early, late and people going to Stonehenge, Salisbury on the way to the airport. Regards John

Once in the street people who want to return to the baggage hall can only do so by going through the security process in the same way that b2b people do. You just need one way doors and have security staff available at the exit You let people back in after they go to the entrance and go through security checks. Regards John

This would not be possible under David63's plan. The so called queue jumpers are doing this by participating in the traditional leave your luggage outside cabin for crew collection system but then saying they are self-disembarking to exit the ship early and get to the baggage hall first. Under David's system, self-disembarking passengers are ejected straight into the street. Regards John

You should make sure you know the cabin preferences all the family members should like balcony or other and in addition deck preferences and whether they want all cabins close together. Phone up with a printed deck plan to hand, let them know how many cabins you want to book and discuss your requirements. This is the best way to sort things out I suggest. Regards John

I believe if you wish to self-disembark you are really saying that you and all your companions are able to carry all your luggage off the ship unassisted. That is all. If you leave at a time when a large crowd of people are disembarking and they have very little luggage you will impede them to some extent. This is not the best idea when you look at the overall picture. In addition if you have heavy suitcases and feel it is unsafe to go down escalators etc. and want to opt for the lifts this is a bit selfish insofar as people in wheelchairs have no option but to use the lift. I should not do this as getting off later with traditional night time collection of cases is easily organised by talking to reception. There is never a fight to get the last disembarkation group by huge numbers of passengers. Regards John

I suspect if you were really early the forklifts would still be unloading. Once all the cases are laid out they ten start calling colour groups in the set sequence. I accidently disembarked one cruise due to a misunderstanding and was invited to disembark. The gangway guy, I assume thought we were self-disembarking when we were not and quite happy to wait.. We were just moving from one lounge to another and passing the disembarkation gangway. Once in the hall our cases were still on pallets and they did not like us waiting. Regards John