Charleyben

Does anybody have any information about what is happening on the Spirits up and coming cruises?

We are not due to sail until the TA in March but at the moment everything seems uncertain. We are still awaiting details of our pre cruise hotel in Barbados.  We are loathe to make any further travel and testing arrangements at the his time for obvious reasons.

Being  given 3 days of a cancellation is unacceptable.  It would make much more sense for SS to cancel forthcoming cruises until the Covid situation becomes clearer.

It will be a long time before Covid will be eradicated from cruise ships, if ever.  

I agree that that having been fully vaccinated should be compulsory for all passengers with no exceptions.

At some stage a decision will have to be made when things move forward. All the available evidence is showing that the effects of the Omicron strain upon those who are fully vaccinated and without underlying health conditions are no worse than flu.

Everyone booking a cruise are able to make their own risk assessment based on current available data and the state of their health.

I am of the opinion that either the cruise operators cancel all cruises or otherwise resume normal service.  I see little or no point in isolating those who test positive who are asymptomatic or who have minor symptoms.

Influenza was never deemed to be a reason to isolate passengers in the past.  The only serious infection that has historically caused major disruption to the cruise industry is norovirus.

The current system of conducting various on board testing cannot eradicate the virus and is quite simply not achieving the desired result.  Without introducing some draconian and unworkable restrictions it is impossible to keep a cruise ship Covid free.

Here in the UK, all indications from our Government is that we are going to have to learn to live with it and that all current restrictions will soon be lifted.

We are off on this cruise departing next Sunday.  Can you tell us what the dress has been for the cruise.  My cruise personaliser has evening casual for all seven nights.

thanks

Thanks Sagaris. I assume that you are on the cruise departing tomorrow (29th August) and is in interesting that your itinerary is showing a celebration night but not on ours.

Every time I have attempted to telephone call I am told that they are receiving unprecedented numbers of calls and to ring at a different time.  I would be interested to learn what times they may not be receiving unprecedented calls but I suspect that such a time does not exist.

Five days ago I e mailed them and to date I have not even been given the courtesy of an automated reply let alone an answer to my question.

I do not consider myself to be overly demanding but I do expect a better level of service than this.

I am getting rather tired of apologists for poor service.  Yes I can unnecessarily pack clothes that will not be required but that is not the issue here.

Using the current pandemic to excuse all types of poor service is wearing a bit thin.  Furlough is virtually over and is has now been almost 18 months since this virus reared its ugly head.  How is it that there are still companies out there who are still able to provide quality of service despite this without blaming the pandemic.

Andy & Michelle, yes P & O have never been great but they are excelling themselves now.

Thanks BW.  This is also what I think will be the case.  I just don't want to be packing for a formal night if is unnecessary.  Surely it is not that difficult for them to maintain an accurate itinerary.

The thing that I find most annoying is the total apathy that P & O have for customers.  Their recorded message should read,  "We have very little interest in your telephone call.  We are not experiencing an unprecedented number of calls,  it's simply that we are using insufficient call centre staff to respond to our usual level of queries which has been excacerbated by the fact that our IT Department hasn't got a clue what they are doing!"

This might not get me the information I am looking for but it would be refreshing to know that I am not being treated like an idiot.

My Cruise Personaliser for the above cruise has been showing the dress code on all 7 nights as being evening casual.  

I have attempted to contact P & O by telephone and e mail to clarify this but this has proven to be an futile for the reasons others have experienced.

i contacted our TA who has experienced similar problems in speaking with them.  She said she would endeavour to do so and a few days later I received an e mail stating that our seven day cruise consists of 2 formal nights and 5 casual, which certainly used to be the case but I suspect that this is simply an uplift off the P & O  Website or a brochure.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone  who taking this cruise as to what their personaliser is showing. Thanks in anticipation.

A much worse outcome could still happen.  Who knows what contact those who were disembarked had with other guests.  Social distancing protocols are all well and good but how often do you see them disregarded.

in all reality whilst it is possible that the virus can be transmitted between people who have received the vaccines, it is unlikely.  Even if some passengers contracted the virus they are unlikely to develop serious symptoms.

The line has to be drawn somewhere and I personally think that in this case P & O have gone over the top.  There are bound to be certain passengers who have picked up the virus and are tested before the markers show to produce a positive test.  Also there are the false negative LFTs to be put into the equation.

If I had been sat having dinner and been asked to disembark under these circumstances, I would be apoplectic.

I have just checked the itinerary on the personaliser for the 7 night Britannia Cruise departing on 5th September and the dress code on all 7 nights is shown as evening casual.  Is this just a default setting or is it correct.  It is now only 21 days until departure. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

My first thoughts upon reading this topic is how could P & O prevent you from leaving the ship.  This would be unlawful.  Then I thought you might well get off, it could be getting back on where you may experience difficulties.

i don't think I will bother to exercise my human rights after all!

Many thanks.

We booked our first Silversea Cruise through a TA last week.  I have registered my details on My Silversea and have completed what details I can.  My question is how is my cruise booking entered on the system.  Is it automatic or must I manually enter it.  Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your help LOF.  It's easy when you know how!

Thanks lifeonMars.  The reason I didn't do a screenshot of my share account is that it does not include my name.  I could be sending details of anyone's share account.

We are due to cruise on Brittania in September.  I contacted Hargreaves Lansdown where my share certicicates are lodged, they took down details of our cruise and stated they would inform P & O.

A week later I have not heard any acknowledgement from P & O.  Is this normal or should I contact them directly.  It's not a great deal but we would not want to miss out. Any advice would be appreciated.

The Canberra was also our first cruise.  We didn't have the lowest grade cabin but we had the next up which gave us own own loo.  I remember having to book a slot to use the bathroom.

Our cabin was so small that one of us had to lie on the lower bunk in order for the other to get dressed.  We had friends is a much larger cabin who jokingly suggested we should consider hosting a cabin party. My response was that they should bring a bottle, preferably containing oxygen.

i should add that once outside the cabin, the quality of food and service was vastly superior to what you get today.  If you take into account inflation, we paid the daily equivalent of what Seabourn is charging today.

The price of cruising has tumbled in price since those days so it is hardly surprising that P and O have made cutbacks.

With cruising starting up again at the end of June, I am interesting to know how the post pandemic experience will roll out.  The information currently being provided by P & O is somewhat vague.  For the first staycation cruises they say that ships will sail at reduced capacity without being specific and that there will be different dining arrangements.  Masks are expected to be worn in certain places around the ship but no further detail.  I appreciate that it is difficult for them to know how government policy will develop for the rest of this year but whether cruising will be a pleasant experience or an ordeal remains to be seen.

it will interesting to learn how the costs of alternative dining and drinks prices will be set after the lay off and whether we can expect significant increases.

We have taken the plunge and booked a staycation on Britannia in September and hoping we have made a good call.

i would be interested to learn how CC members think it will all pan out.

Once again thank you for your replies.  I am not familiar with the named wines listed.

i suppose the point of my post is, if we don't like the wines on offer what are the alternatives.  Do you have an option to purchase bottles of wine in any of the restaurants on board?  If they don't I can't see that they could make the argument that you cannot bring your own wine.

i am not a wine snob but I do enjoy drinking wines that suit my taste.

Thanks for the replies.  We have booked the upgraded drinks package but we are just trying to establish what options we have if we wish to upgrade the wines offered.

On other cruise lines we have purchased wines in the ports of call and used them in the dining venues either paying a corkage charge or not depending on which line.

We are shortly sailing on the explorer and I am trying to establish what wines are available both in the all inclusive packages and what are available for extra charge.  Also are you able to bring wine on board and if so is there a corkage charge.  I would be grateful for any information as I can find nothing on the TUI website.

Was there much hanging about after your flight arrived and before boarding the ship.  How did the timing work out?  Overnight flights are bad enough in themselves without waiting around to board the ship.

If Basil Fawlty was wearing the correct trousers, he would still take them off, hand them to the maitre' with instructions to take them over to the querying table for proper scrutiny.

He would probably add a pair of spectacles to assist them with their deliberation.

I have heard this many times blaming Carnival for the demise of P&O. Carnival trumped RCCL at the very last minute to merge P&O in 2003 and all cruise lines whether part of Carnival or not have changed whether for better or for worse. Cruising now is far cheaper taking into consideration of inflation so something has to deteriorate to keep prices low. The Captain on Aurora which we were sailing on when announcement was made said that P&O were looking at other companies for investment in new ships as they couldnt do it on their own. It has now been nearly 16yrs since they merged with Carnival and have had 4 new ships and another new one on the way so P&O havent suffered too much. Whether we want to pay higher prices to go back to the standards when we first started cruising in 1997 is a totally different question but if the same standards and food were today then cruise prices would be a lot higher you cannot have it both ways.

I don't think anything I wrote implied the demise of P & O, I was merely pointing out the influence of Carnival. It is not just P & O, Seabourn regulars are up in arms about the introduction of a retreat on their two new ships and they are in no doubt that Carnival HQ are behind that decision.

My first cruise on P & O was on the Canberra in the mid/late 80s, I cannot remember the exact date but as has already been stated it was priced at the equivalent of luxury cruise lines today.

Change is inevitable but I just hope that P & O don't follow the way of the US mainstream lines. P and O are part of the Carnival Corporation and that is a fact of life and it is not going to change. Their influence over P & O has become more noticeable in recent years and I hope P & O will be allowed to retain its own identity.

Before the introduction of drinks' packages, the American Dollar ships did charge more than P & O for drinks but not to the extent they do now.

Since the introduction of the packages bar prices on Dollar ships have increased dramatically to where they are today. I am sure they have done this as an inducement to take their packages.

I only hope that P & O don't go down the same route but I think that they will. Over the past few years they have increased their prices stealthily. Last year I did four P & O cruises and noticed 5 or 10 pence increases regularly occurring as opposed to a one off annual adjustment.

Over the past five years prices have certainly increased faster that the rate of inflation.

It would be nice to think that P & O have introduced these packages as a result of customer demand but I think that would be rather naive of me.

I'm sorry if I come across as cynical but I have been cruising for many years before and after P & Os takeover by Carnival and I think the writing is on the wall.

My main problem with the drink's package is that we are primarily wine drinkers. I may have pint of lager before dinner, a bottle of red with dinner and usually another bottle of red in the Glass House after dinner.

The wines currently sold by the glass are not to our taste and you don't know how long they have been hanging around since they were opened.

For this reason we always buy wine by the bottle or maybe by the glass in the Glass House where it is better controlled. Therefore i cannot see that we will be purchasing the package.

We do not have a problem with P & O introducing a drinks package, it just doesn't work for us.