Megabear2

Very nice. I sailed on Allure transatlantic in 2018 and loved the carousel which was free. However the sideshows on the Boardwalk were payable like a fairground. I've never sailed on Independence or Anthem with the bumper cars and things so can't comment on those. I thought that ifly and north star used to be chargeable. I'm told there was a charge for the escape room on a recent RCI cruise by niece travelled on earlier this year. I haven't sailed RCI since 2018 but did consider Wonder of the Seas earlier this year. The price was 30% higher than the Celebrity Edge cruise we eventually chose and 50% more than Princess and P&O. To be truthful at my age I'm not too concerned about bumper cars etc!

Most of the luxury land based hotels I use home and abroad have now reverted to evening turndown. Last year at a b&b in Dartmouth we returned to find the owners had carried out turn down and left us a box of locally made sweets on our pillow. My Celebrity and Princess cruises both offered turn down every night. Those that don't like it can presumably say they don't require it but truthfully many do and really if that was part of the offering making people feel special then P&O should bring it back.

The American ships are more expensive though. Also as has been said elsewhere formulaic. Even MSC is like a one armed bandit with extras - 10 pin bowling, arcade etc spring to mind. As pointed out by Moley British passengers aren't so keen to pay for the extras like the flow riders etc. As I said before all these zip lines etc come st a cost.

We are getting reports that Ionas pools are full with kids at present. If you stick water slides in there won't be much room for people like me sho just enjoy a leisurely poodle up and down. As for the early morning keep fit swimmers slides would be devastating for their turns etc. There are no lifeguards in P&O ships, there are on RCI and MSC ships with slides. As someone with big time swimmers, judges and swim teachers all around them I'm told its because the slides are more of a drowning/accident area.

I had it for 8 October but when I had to change to a single when my aunt couldn't travel sadly lost it.

Neither myself or the other half drink much wine so not much use to us when we are alone. Last year on staycation with the family we bought the wine package to share with the family (there were 10 of us) particularly as it had prosecco and we hadn't met up for 2 years. Paid for it before sailing and got 15% discount. Great until we got onboard where the waiters in the restaurant refused to accept the vouchers as they were too busy to collect the wines in the package which were not apparently kept there. Whole thing became a farce and we ended up with 8 out of 12 unused. We complained onboard and was met with blank stares. On return I complained and mentioned it on the questionnaire. Eventually we were refunded and given £150 FCC as an apology. Ironically when we sailed on Britannia at Christmas one of my "gifts" from P&O on the insurance issues was another wine package. We managed to use 6 of the 12 bottles, mainly in Epicurean and Limelight.

Yes. One for each family member. Your travel insurer will expect you to have it in the event of medical care. It's not valid in Norway or Switzerland but talks are ongoing, just got lost in the Brexit paperwork. If you get ill in Europe it pays emergency care only. Your insurer picks up the rest. In your insurance policy it will state you must have it.

Yes, it takes 2 weeks and you have to pay the bill until it comes. Here is the voice of experience....

I'm probably one of the smallest spenders onboard as I book/pay for everything up front, particularly on ships using US$ as I can pay in sterling. My average bill for drinks on P&O comes in well under £150 in 14 nights when I'm on my own. My bill on Regal included one very expensive excursion booked last minute and still came in below £200. I generally end up offloading any OBC on the Retreat or the spa.

I'm not so sure! I had to ask for a sandwich to be removed from display on Regal Princess after a lady lifted its lid and tasted the insides with her finger! She was blatant and just shrugged her shoulders when I suggested she now remove the sandwich.

Can't do without my tea making facility. Horrified on boarding Celebrity Edge none was there. Asked my cabin steward if I there was any chance I could have a kettle and lo and behold in 10 minutes a brand new boxed one complete with a tray, two mugs and a variety of teabags was delivered. Every day, morning and night, my teabags were replenished and a jug of skimmed milk was put in my fridge. Sadly no biscuits but rectified by a morning/evening trip to El Bacio for yummy cookies. Normally on P&O I raid the buffet every day for extra teabags and a glass of skimmed milk - can't stand the little plastic pots.

First went in 1988 and a Daily Mirror 14 nights on the new Virgin charter(!) 7 nights Disney 7 nights Miami cost £399 each including car hire. My last one in 2017 was 14 nights Animal Kingdom Lodge costing £9,800! We used to have annual passes and managed three trips a year, 2 by flying and one in November by a repositioning cruise to FL or Miami followed by a drive. Three weeks of winter sun, pure bliss. Gradually replaced that with a P&O Caribbean Christmas cruise as I got older but I'd still love to go on a Disney cruise because the child in me will always love Mickey!

Glad to have helped. Your insurer will expect you to have one otherwise your insurance is liable to withhold payment. E

Excellent!

I did used to do that on a Disney Florida holiday. My friends and family were astonished what would come and go in their Disney diary as I moved restaurants, fast passes, events and even meet and greets. Despite their laughter they all admitted in dozens of trips they'd never seen or done so much. Happy days indeed. Now I can't even afford a day in a park the prices are so Hugh.

Not in the market for much at the moment as still using up bookings made a very long time ago. However: P&O December 16th 2022 - price now dropped £1,800 on my select fares plus extra £300OBC October 8th 2022 - price dropped by £250 with extra OBC - also smaller single supplement December 22 2023 - price dropped by £600 with extra OBC NCL August 2023 - price risen by £1,300 even with AI taken into account Celebrity May 2023 - price remains static but 60% of second person. However new bookings no always included Non cruising: 10 nights 5* Kefalonia with private pool July 2023 £3,600 total for 2 10 nights 5* Venice/Verona booked independentfly with flights, transfers, B&B - £1,100 for 2 Interesting pattern here - why would I choose to book more cruises???

But it's nice to have the option. Princess allow you to request it via the Medallion app.

I don't think the Caribbean protocols are known yet. Last year they were announced early October, just after a large number of people were due to pay their balances. I'm guessing that end of September early October will be the first we hear.

Not just any old chocs either. On posh nights we got little boxes of Belgian truffles - yummy!

It appears to be the new British disease! Recently in Kefalonia there were no sunbeds around either of the pools in our 5* adults only resort at 7.45am. There are some wonderful videos on the subject on YouTube as well.

As a frequent visitor to a particular Austrian village I was surprised one night to be introduced at a festival as one of the people visiting there the longest, in my case 30 years. I was asked to go on a stage to meet the Mayor of the village and given a box to mark the occasion. Imagine my surprise on opening it when I found 30 specially minted silver coins. I can now proudly boast that I am the recipient of a biblical 30 pieces of silver!

I never saw my account on Britannia, Celebrity Edge or Regal Princess save for emailed versions. Britannia was the quickest arriving on the morning of departure, Edge second at 24 hours and Princess only received 14 days after return. I had checked each account the night before departure but even then ended up with a query on Edge as the $100 "test" on boarding amount still showed up for 3 days.

Once did a Meet the Manager live on a station. We all told them we thought quiet carriages were a good idea. The manager nodded and wrote it down. The next week they announced televisions on trains would be introduced in every carriage carrying live tv and advertisements. Certainly another "We're listening experience".

Another reason why all this OBC isn't all it's cracked up to be! If you're the sort of person who doesn't drink much, use the spa or buy bags, jewellery, watches whatever you can find yourself scrambling to spend it. Excursions used to be able to be pre purchased with OBC (up until about 8 or 9 years ago if my memory serves me correct) and in light of P&O using OBC as a tool to entice bookings it would be nice if they could allow it again.

Hope you are enjoying it. Cost not a problem if it hopefully lives up to your expectations.