pete14

Am jealous. We sort of did a maiden cruise - well sort of. We were on the Silhouette when she did her first proper long cruise after her naming. It was slightly chaotic at the time but there is nothing like the feel of a new ship and the excitement. Enjoy every minute. :)

Thanks Presto. I thoroughly intend to!:D

The maiden cruise is the first cruise when the ship is full of paying passengers. The earlier one seems to be for invited guests, employees, press and journalists etc who hopefully will provide excellent free publicity. I wouldn't imagine it will be anywhere near full. It will also iron out any potential glitches. This pre maiden will not adversely affect the excitement of driving down to Southampton on March 14th, boarding the ship and sailing away on her first real, proper cruise. I for one, can't wait whatever some distractors feel.

According to Q and A on P&O website, Costa coffee is available in various outlets on Britannia (Java, Crows Nest and grab and go outlets)

Just as a side issue, does anybody know whether cars remain in the hotel car parks for the duration of the cruise or are they moved and parked up elsewhere? If they are moved, where do they go? I can't imagine the hotel car parks are large enough to act as long term cruise car parks as well as serving their day to day hotel clientele.

Provided costs are not excessive, I think I would prefer to pay. Otherwise, it will probably be virtually impossible to get a table for those wishing to get full value for money for their cruise.

You will be allowed to check in at 1200-1230 doesnt matter what it says on your e-ticket this was confirmed to me by P&O only last week.

I think I will leave it until around 2:00 to hopefully avoid some of what is likely to be a mad rush

We are on the next cruise to yours and have been given that time too. Are people observing these arrival times? When you have a 230 miles journey to make by car with two disabled Mums we are not chancing an arrival timed that late but also don't want to have to kill time in Southampton if they are turning people away. We have always got there about mid-day before.

It is quite a dilemma. We are travelling 180 miles. Normally we have check in times between 12:00 and 1:30 which allows time for delays on the roads. With checking in at 15:30, I am not sure how much time there will be to allow for such delays. If I leave a couple of hours early just in case, I am not sure we will be allowed to check in early considering this is the first time they will have checked in so many at one terminal. I will try and keep others informed on here once I have boarded so those on the second cruise will have some guidance. It is a pity P&O haven't made this clear.

Maybe they've got a big surprise up their sleeves :)

Perhaps Britannia isn't ready so they have chartered Marco Polo for us all- up to 8 in a cabin and 6 sittings for dinner.:confused::(

Hi

 

I believe Britannia will be sailing from Ocean Terminal so I would suggest that Hythe Marina would be the best vantage point, not sure of the time but normally around 1630 hrs. Britannia is also doing a pre-maiden cruise for 2 nights leaving at 1630 hrs on Wed 11th March so if you are around that would be a good time to view before the crowds gather.

She leaves from Ocean terminal but I think it will be later than 4:30. Our checking time is 3:30 so they are unlikely to get everyone aboard and the safety drill carried out by 4:30. Can't see departure being before 5:30 but P&O don't seem to want people to know.

Dependent on the tariff you have for your phone, it may be cheaper to access the internet on your phone but only when in port. If you do this, make sure you block data whilst at sea because it has a habit of downloading updates etc during the night when at sea and this can be costly. Ashore, you may be able to find free wifi. Follow the crew because they know exactly where to go!

I don't think the internet packages onboard are worth buying. You can reckon on on at least 30p per minute for a package, including special offers and it is very slow and unreliable. If you remember the old dial up internet speeds, it can be even slower than that.

Enjoy your cruise, Arcadia is a lovely ship.

We are on Britannia really looking fwd to it my 2 questions are will there be a luggage allowance going out? Also seems not many cabins to choose from so we are going with C607 any way of finding out if we have a good cabin for sun/noise etc any info greatly appreciated thanks:)

Any cabin with cabins above and below, such as C607 should be fairly quiet. Mind you it is unusual in my experience to be disturbed by noise from adjacent cabins or those above and below. As for sun, hard to tell apart from saying it is dependent on the direction the ship is sailing compared with where the sun is in the sky. If you get sun on the outward half of the cruise, when the ship turns round and returns home, you are unlikely to get it.

Sometimes you get Naples as well making 3 long days on the trot ! - but if this is the only time you plan to visit - assuming you are fit and well, don't miss either. I frankly wouldn't do 3 hr Pisa on your own anyway, not really enough at Pisa. I would not miss Florence if you have not been before, we have found that Florence is not as tiring as Rome, much more contained.

I disagree with dismissing the Pisa on your own. Taking into account travelling time and the walk to the Pisa complex from the car park, you perhaps get around 75 minutes. If you get there early, it will be less crowded. We were amongst the first to buy tickets (not expensive) to go inside the Baptistry and Cathedral and for a few minutes, we were alone in the Baptistry. If you go up to the balcony in the Baptistry, you can take a fabulous photo of the Cathedral with the top of the tower visible behind it. They have even cut out a small section of the wire mesh covering the windows to allow for photographs. The interior of the Cathedral is well worth a look if that is your interest. I thought it was a fabulous morning!

This is a very long thread, started by something printed in the Daily Mail. I can't help but feel that the paper in question is a poor starting point for anything other than a fire.

I couldn't agree more. The speculation, guesswork and probably duff information in this thread is not helpful to anybody, most importantly the bereaved family. I know it is a discussion forum but imo it is best to base discussion on evidence not supposition, including that published in the Daily Mail from a single source.

I have only used CPS and never considered using any other company. CPS is very easy to use, very efficient and I have absolute confidence that my car is safe. They are a bit more expensive but well worth it.

The "traditional die hard" P&Oers moaned all through Arcadia maiden cruise that they didnt like her then they moaned about Ventura and Azura saying they were too big, like a block of flats and butlins at sea and guess what they now say Britannia is too big, like a block of flats and butlins at sea. I think its about time they all disappeasred into the sunset and take their moaning to Saga cruises its getting boring and they are boring unless they are talking about good old Canberra where they had to share bathrooms and go down corridors in the night to go to the toilet but she was wonderful. If they said they were bringing out a new ship where you have to share bathrooms guess what they would "moan".

I couldn't have put it better myself. All this negativity about a ship no passenger has yet set foot on.

Hi guys,first time cruiser so would like to know if it is acceptable to wear almost full sandals on a smart casual evening with chinos or linen trousers?

 

 

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Might be seen by some as a fashion faux pas, especially if you wear socks as well! More seriously though, I agree with Mr Piano - most men wear 'proper' shoes even on smart casual.

We have booked on to cruise the Baltics in June. Hope the maiden voyage doesn't throw up any surprises!

I also hope it's MUCH better than the Oriana was in 2013!!

As we are on the maiden cruise, I am hoping for lots of surprises but only if they are planned and positive!

HM, accompanied by Prince Phillip, are to visit Hampshire on March 10th, this is shown on the Royal Diary dates. Britannia's maiden voyage leaves Southampton on 14th March, --- I'm on it !!! The dates may simply be coincidental but a naming ceremony just 4 days before the maiden voyage could be spot on.

Hi Floating Voter - we have a maiden cruise roll call that you are welcome to join.

Sorry to be a complete idiot but what does the Entertainments Officer do?

 

I think I know what they are responsible for but as we don't tend to do the shows etc we aren't really that bothered.

Entertainments Officer is the new name for the old Cruise Director, responsible for leading a team looking after all organised passenger activities, not just the shows.

Interesting that Britannia cruise are logged in at Southampton from 28th March nothing before

 

http://cruisesouthampton.com/pages/cruise-list--5

 

I wonder which terminal ???

 

 

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The maiden leaves from Ocean terminal and I am confident that it will despite not being listed on your link!

Helen, there's a rumour its Tracy Clegg???? We'll just have to wait and see. Not long now :D

Tracey Clegg is probably preparing with Neil Oliver on Britannia at the moment as they seem to be sharing the maiden season. I guess it is possible she may be on Ventura for a few weeks before transferring though just to keep her hand in.

I noticed that there does not appear to be an entertainments officer on the maiden voyage and also presumed it would be both Clegg and Oliver. That would make some sort of sense.

If you go on P&O cruises own website, click on the help and advice tab, type the question who are the senior officers?, you should be able to access all senior officers on all ships including entertainment managers.

As an alternative, there is a micro brewery pub on the 'quayside'. Beer is expensive but cheaper than the railway.

Themed cruises have been on the go for many years but unless you belong to a group or forum of that particular interest then you probably wont find out about them.

 

Sometimes if you look at a ships cruises for a year there will be blank dates, this could be dry dock or a speciality cruise as they dont tend to list them

 

They have musical theatre cruises, religious cruises, food/culinary cruises, gay/lesbian cruises, clothing optional cruises, music genre cruises and many more I'm sure.

I know some cruise lines charter out a ship to a particular specialist group or agent for an 'exclusive cruise' but I see no reason why cruise companies themselves cannot put on themed cruises as part of their mainstream brochure.