HellouB

Eight of us booked the maiden voyage.  If took my Mother two hours on hold to get through after making the call at 1pm.

I was unfortunately in a meeting all afternoon so I kept checking the website covertly to see if rooms were still available.  I then had the booking confirmation email show on my watch and let out a “yes!” It stopped the meeting, everyone looked at me and I had to explain my outburst.  (Everyone had a laugh and were good about it.)

Fingers crossed I get on this one as my last cruise was cancelled the day before sailing as my husband came down with covid and the rest of the family came down with it a few days later…….

So has anyone stayed at the

Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour and the Southampton Harbour Hotel Ocean Village.. Which one did you prefer?

We stay a lot in a Southampton having got the cruise bug and our son chose to go to University here.  (A great choice as we come down from Yorkshire to visit and add a little cruise here or there!)

We have stayed at the following hotels, (we sometimes drive but I prefer to get the train)

Travelodge Southampton (not to be confused with the new Travelodge Southampton Central), was dreadful, noise from the traffic, basic and dirty and it is on the outskirts of town.  I would never book here again.  However this was in 2016 so it may be different now.

Days Inn Rowham Southampton - I do a lot of travelling for work and got a free night stay with my points.  It is a couple of miles outside Southampton on the M27 located at the motorway service station.  It was fine for the night if you are on a budget, we ate at the services the following morning and were at the port in 15 minutes.

Premier Inn Southampton City Centre - Next to Solent University across from the park.  Nice hotel with a restaurant, near to the train station but limited parking.  Twenty minute walk to the High Street, West Quay And Marlands Shopping Centre and taxi to the port is about £6

Jury Inns - Nice hotel, limited parking, taxi from train station was £5.  My husband rates this the best hotel we have stayed in so far.  It is at the top of the park next to Solent University’s new sports building but in walking distance of the High Street and shopping centres.  It is surrounded by roads, but soundproofed and adequate pedestrian crossings.

Ibis Hotel - Directly across the road from the train station so no taxi needed if you only have one suitcase to pull.  Clean rooms, good breakfasts and if you order a taxi to get to the port you order by room number and wait in the reception seating area and the driver comes in gets you.  Last time we were there Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were going out the same day, so there were a few cruisers which added to the atmosphere.  It is also next to TGI Fridays, McDonalds and there is a Boots and Wilko’s for those last minute purchases.  You can walk to John Lewis and West Quay in 10-15 minutes.  Parking is £10 per night right outside the hotel and we have never had a problem finding a space.

Ibis Budget Hotel (next door to the Ibis). Extremely basic as someone above posted like a youth hostel and for the sake of a couple of pounds you would be better off in the Ibis next door.

Juniper Berry Pub - We booked late and because the Boat Show was on all our usual hotels were fully booked.  We found this pub on air bnb.  It is just off the High Street.  It has basic clean rooms and since we only needed it for the room as we spend most of the time shopping and eating at a West Quay it was fine.

We have not stayed at the Grand Harbour Hotel yet, we know a lot of people who have and I might book this for my cruise in November on QM2 as it’s my birthday and a special cruise.  I fancy a hotel with spa facilities this time.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for letting me know what a disruptor is. I shall look for one on my next cruise.

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is an acoustic disrupter?

I have to say that I loved Arcadia when I travelled on her, however if I had the choice between QE, QV or Arcadia I would choose Cunard. There are pros and cons to each of them. I prefer the more formal aspects of Cunard. I also think the quality and variety of food is better on Cunard, the talks and entertainment are of a better standard and I just feel a little bit more looked after.

Having said that, Arcadia is a beautiful ship, my favourite out of the P&O fleet that I have been on so far. I like the fact that everything is in sterling, the services charges are less, and to be honest I have never had poor service so I wouldn't hesitate to book to go on her, I would be happy to do a world cruise on her.

My choice between choosing P&O or Cunard generally comes from what is available on a certain sailing date, as I have to plan cruises around work and children, a couple of years more and this won't be an issue:)

Hi there,

To give my two penny's worth here goes:

Now a couple of questions:

1 - Do I go for a room with a balcony or suite ?

I always tell people to get at least a balcony cabin when going to the fjords. We entered the fjord about 5 o'clock in in the morning and it was magical to put on our dressing gowns and walk out onto the balcony. The majority of our neighbours were doing the same. We ordered room service for breakfast and it was so peaceful and relaxing to do it at our own pace. If we had an inside we would have had to be up, dressed and up on top deck at the crack of dawn. (By the way I am not against inside cabins and have used them for various cruises). As far as Britannia goes, I have not sailed on her. My mum went to the Fjords in May on her (she has been on all of the fleet) and she said that although Britannia was lovely the balconies were much smaller that some of the others.

2 - Which month is best to experience the Fjords - May or September?

We went in May and most of our friends go around that time. In April you get more snow/ice melting and the waterfalls are much fuller.

3 - Any advice for a first time cruiser?

Take an extension cord as there are limited plugs in your room. The walls are magnetic so some fridge magnets are good as you can stick your excursion tickets and itinerary to the walls so they don't get lost.

4 - Any advice for excursions around Norway?

The Flam railway is a good one, you can book with P&O or do it online direct. If you do go on the railway sit on the right hand side of the train going up. If you don't want to come back down on it you can cycle back to the ship.

When you get off the ship in Flam before you get to the station on the right hand side a little set back is a round building, it is a little pub with a fire in the middle, it is a lovely little place to have a quick beer.

I hope you enjoy your first cruise, be careful though it can become addictive!!

I have booked via a travel agent and now do my bookings direct with P&O over the phone. I still look to see if the prices are comparable with other sites and they usually are.

I have seen in the thread that some people have been left on hold for a long time, but once you begin to book a lot direct you are given a designated cruise consultant and a different number (including their extension number). When you call you get put straight through to them, however, if they are on the phone with a another customer it goes to a "live person" who either handles your query or takes down your details and then your consultant calls you back straight after finishing the other call.

I have also had my consultant call me when there are good offers, I always let her know where I want to go and when.

Thanks everyone for the advice:)

I wear full length for the formal and cocktail for the semi formal, however other passengers do wear shorter lengths instead.

What a coincidence, we are on the same cruise as you! My husband, Mum and I are going along with my two children aged 14 and 17. Your daughter will love it, we took my daughter on her own when she was 12. There were 45 children amongst the passenger's and the kids had a wonderful Christmas.

The kids clubs are really great and the staff make sure that the kids are occupied. My daughter loved dressing up and loved watching everyone dance on the dance floor. One nice gentleman even offered to take her for a waltz just so she could say she had danced in the Queens ballroom.

You will have plenty that you can do either together or on your own, I would not hesitate to go on the cruise, I will look out for you in the kids club!

Hi Everyone,

I wondered if anyone can help me as I am hearing different comments about the soft drinks package. I want to purchase this for my husband and children, but I need to know if they can use this package in the Britannia restaurant? Our cruise is port intensive and if you cannot use it with your main evening meal it would seem pointless to purchase it and I would just pay for each drink.

In addition my children are 14 and 17. Are they able to order for themselves from the bar their cokes or will I have to order for them instead? This may pose a problem if they are in the teen zone and want to get a drink and are not able to.

When we went on an 18 day Christmas cruise on QE there were 45 children among the 2000 guests, most were the children of the crew. My daughter was 12 at the time and was the only child in the second sitting. Apart from Christmas day festivities in the ballroom we never really saw the other children as they tend to stay in the kids clubs.

As for the dress code, it is my opinion that it is more formal. I have certain dresses I wear for Cunard, others for P&O and again different for MSC.

Hello Kittysmum,

I have a 16 year old son and a 14 year old daughter who sounds like she is the same size as your daughter. My son will be wearing a Tux and I have purchased a new jacket for semi formal. My daughter was slightly more difficult to dress as although she is 14 is wearing 12 year old size clothes.

When we have cruised before we have got her formal long gowns for wedding/prom shops, we have just looked for styles that don't look too old or too young. What was harder was to find shoes to match that didn't look too grown up (now she is a young lady she wants a kitten heel whereas on previous cruises she wore flats or her silver dance shoes).

My daughter is happy to wear full length as she enjoys dressing up, for semi formal she will wear shorter. However, I have seen children on formal nights wearing a shorter length.

We just booked a cruise for November 2 weeks ago with GC grade We booked two staterooms and one has already been allocated a room number. When we did QE at Christmas GC as soon as the TA hit send after payment the documents came back with the stateroom number on. When we have done P&O we have had to wait till about 2 weeks before we go to get the allocation. There doesn't seem no rhyme or reason.

Mine was Christmas 2012 on QE. My mother, daughter and I went, 3 generations (my husband went on a boys holiday with my son!!). The best part was watching my 12 year old daughter on her first "grown up" cruise. We spent ages buying evening gowns and matching shoes.

Because it was Christmas, it was magical. From the Gingerbread village, to the gifts and the New Years Eve party, everything was perfect.

When I have gone saver fare and requested a table for 2 I have never got one:( I seem to always be put on a table for 8 (not that I am antisocial - it just depends on who I am travelling with, if its the husband table for 2, the husband and kids table for 4, with Mother table for 8)

I loved Cane Garden Beach in Tortola, it was very peaceful and relaxing. We took the onboard transfer with P and O, which was good as the driver gave a running commentary and let us get off to take pictures.

I was disappointed with the beach in St Lucia as it was overrun with hawkers and I spent most of my time saying thank you I'm not interested. Just by the Sandals resort a young couple we were travelling with were offered drugs within 10 minutes of arriving so they felt uncomfortable and made a hasty retreat (I hope this was an isolated incident). Everyone we knew who went on the catamaran trip organised by P and O said they had a wonderful time and got to see many interesting sites and swim in the coves. If I go back to St Lucia I will definately do that trip instead.

We were on Azura in May and I have also done the Ventura in the caribbean. Both ships were great, I had no problems on either although if I had my choice I would stick with a middle size ship, but that's just a personal preference, it would not stop me booking on a larger ship.

The entertainment is great and I have never had an issue with other guests and neither had any problems with sunbeds, although I did travel during school term, so maybe there were less issues as there were less families with children (p.s. I am not against kids - I have two of my own!)

We did the same cruise and found the best value was to book in to the Raddison Blu Manchester Airport which included parking in the cost of the one night stay which at the time was £140. We then could do check in the night before. Because the hotel is in the terminal you don't have the stress of getting to the airport.

The trip back from Southampton was by coach and there were no drops offs, just a stop for the drivers break. We were back at the airport by 2pm and were dropped off at departures, because the car was a the Raddison Blu inside the terminal building it was only 5 mins and we were on our way.

It was a smooth transition both ways, I love the fact that you don't see your luggage again till your in your cabin. On MSC you have the hassle of having to claim your luggage in arrivals and take it to the coach, both ways.

I did Monaco Xmas 2012 on QE, we used the tender and was one of the first to disembark with my daughter. We did not book any excursions or transport, using the whatsinport.com website (which I used to plan all my trips with).

We walked the whole of Monaco, starting with the old town, the palace, the gardens, down to the seafront walking the race track course, up to Hotel de Paris and had tea at Cafe de Paris, then looked at the shops. We then went on to the beach for an hour and then walked back to the tender point (Via the Christmas Market and funfair).

We left the ship at 8.00 and got back at 4.30 and loved every minute. This is one of the best ports of call I have been to!!

Cane Garden Beach in Tortola was lovely, it is a lovely bay with a couple of restaurants and a glass maker/ artist (if he is still there!). We went on the P and O tour and the tour guide drove us both ways around the island stopping for photo opportunities.

Hi, just to add my point of view, I am sorry that you feel upset and hope it doesn't spoil your cruise. The rule of thumb is never to ask what someone paid, there will be some winners and losers and no rhyme or reason as to when to book.

Not to brag, but to give constructive input I have booked select for my next cruise so that I can guarantee my cabin, which dinner sitting, free coach and the weekend I booked I got extra OBC, so now I can relax, currently I am still better off than a saver fare but expect that as the weeks go on it may be discounted.

On the May cruise I booked late saver about 5 weeks before we went, I was checking daily to see if my cabin had been allocated, I knew which grade we were and kept on reviewing with dummy bookings to see which cabins were allocated to try and work out where we could be put (i.e. in a noisy area etc.) We got our allocation 5 days before we went and we were upgraded a couple of grades and fortunately it was an ideal location, however we did not get first sitting (my preference) so I did not see all the shows as it was too late for me. (But I fully understood this could happen and did not let it ruin my cruise.) Would I have been better off booking and paying more so that I was not stressed waiting to find out where I was on the ship?

But here is a negative, I kept on waiting this year to book a cruise in the Summer holidays on MSC for my family (the same one we were on last year) but it sold out of family cabins in May and no matter how many times I tried to book there were no cancellations on the system - the outcome was that we couldn't go on the cruise, if I hadn't of waited and booked the end of last year I would have been ok.

We were on Azura in May and booked late saver and was allocated second sitting which meant the shows were too late for me, but they shouldn't be a problem for night owls. I have booked select for my next cruise so that I can make sure I get an early sitting.

Hi there,

I booked a saver fare for my cruise in May on Azura, I hoped for the early sitting but was put on the late sitting. (Not that I am complaining at all, as I knew before I booked that it was pot luck). I am going again in November but booked select as I wanted to have first sitting, I find that the shows on second sitting are too late, but everyone is different. When I went on Ventura in 2012 again we couldn't choose, got second sitting but then politely asked the maitre D if we could have first and they accomodated us.