Your Last Cruise

[Eddie99]

Well, let’s hope it’s not last = final but last = most recent.  
Who knows though, particularly for those of a particular vintage?

 

So, we’ve had the thread with memories over first cruise, now how about a brief chat about the last cruise you were lucky enough to take?  Mine was just January 2020 and I’ll be happy to add a few thoughts about it later.  For now - over to you, friends.  Your last cruise - however you choose to interpret that

[pete14]

To kick you off, last cruise was Arcadia Northern Lights November last year. Rough seas, snow, lots of cloud so no lights visible and no stop in Stavanger but in it’s own way, a really good cruise. 

[AndyMichelle]

Our most recent cruise was Ventura at New Year. 

We had a great time but doubt we would do another New Year cruise. 

Met great people, had some good laughs but it was just far too busy for our liking.. 

Will be sad if it is our last cruise... 

Andy 

[kalos]

 Our last cruise was on the Oceana the New Year  2018/19 to Hamburg the Ship looked amazing with the decorations.

Which I will put on below.

We then booked a land based holiday in Cyprus 2019  so opted for our next cruise to a New Year one again .

That should have been the same cruise as Andy  on the Ventura at New Year. 

Sadly it was not to be due to health issues so had to cancel and stay at home.

 

[P&O SUE]

Our last cruise was our only Non P&O cruise, I really hope it’s not our last ever cruise! 
It was very eventful, it was a 7 night one to Copenhagen, Skagen, Oslo and Zeebrugge. We missed Skagen due to high winds (it was July!) and it took us 2 hours to be pushed into Copenhagen by two tugs also due to the wind!

Oslo we had a drama with a downpour while we waited for an open top bus and missed two because everyone was pushing and shoving and we couldn’t get on!

We relaxed into the ship (Princess Sapphire) by the end of the week but there were various things that annoyed me! The entertainment was very good with an excellent Beatles band who played on top deck as we left Copenhagen. 
They had a champagne waterfall and a balloon drop but both times I  did think ‘what a waste!’ 
In summery I couldn’t wait to go back to P&O and now we can’t 😩
 

Edited April 16, 2020 by P&O SUE

[Hampshire Steve]

13 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Our last cruise was our only Non P&O cruise, I really hope it’s not our last ever cruise! 
It was very eventful, it was a 7 night one to Copenhagen, Skagen, Oslo and Zeebrugge. We missed Skagen due to high winds (it was July!) and it took us 2 hours to be pushed into Copenhagen by two tugs also due to the wind!

Oslo we had a drama with a downpour while we waited for an open top bus and missed two because everyone was pushing and shoving and we couldn’t get on!

We relaxed into the ship (Princess Sapphire) by the end of the week but there were various things that annoyed me! The entertainment was very good with an excellent Beatles band who played on top deck as we left Copenhagen. 
They had a champagne waterfall and a balloon drop but both times I  did think ‘what a waste!’ 
In summery I couldn’t wait to go back to P&O and now we can’t 😩
 

We went to USA & Canada last year on the Princess, didn't quite hit it off and will most likely stick with P&O (if P&O ever give me my money back for N004)

Our last cruise was the N935 December Canaries cruise that spent 4 extra days in Tenerife, P&O handled that well in my opinion, would do the Canaries every December if it we can! We like Ventura, had some great experiences on board and looked after very well by the crew, some of whom we have met time and time again and hope that they are fairing as best as possible in these difficult times, a bit sad we can't do more for them.

[bee-ess]

Ours was Oceana to the Canaries in Feb this year- it was a good cruise, we like Oceana, always feel comfortable on her, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the newer ships but we always like her.

We were very lucky as we did not get back until March 8th this year and didn't miss any ports or run into Coronavirus. Only after getting back did we realise how lucky we were.

Hope it's not our last time on Oceana

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by bee-ess

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Eddie99 said:

Well, let’s hope it’s not last = final but last = most recent.  
Who knows though, particularly for those of a particular vintage?

 

So, we’ve had the thread with memories over first cruise, now how about a brief chat about the last cruise you were lucky enough to take?  Mine was just January 2020 and I’ll be happy to add a few thoughts about it later.  For now - over to you, friends.  Your last cruise - however you choose to interpret that

Our last cruise was a 15 night Hawaiian cruise on Grand Princess in November 2019.

We had 2 nights pre cruise hotel stay in San Francisco and visited Alcatraz.

When we got off the ship we had booked a day room in a hotel for 6 hours so we could spend another day in San Francisco.

We were booked on Azura TA March 20th 2020 which was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

[grapau27]

Just now, grapau27 said:

Our last cruise was a 15 night Hawaiian cruise on Grand Princess in November 2019.

We had 2 nights pre cruise hotel stay in San Francisco and visited Alcatraz.

When we got off the ship we had booked a day room in a hotel for 6 hours so we could spend another day in San Francisco.

We were booked on Azura TA March 20th 2020 which was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

 

[Josy1953]

47 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

Ours was Oceana to the Canaries in Feb this year- it was a good cruise, we like Oceana, always feel comfortable on her, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the newer ships but we always like her.

We were very lucky as we did not get back until March 8th this year and didn't miss any ports or run into Coronavirus. Only after getting back did we realise how lucky we were.

Hope it's not our last time on Oceana

 

We were on the same cruise but unlike you it will definitely be our last cruise on Oceana.

We were definitely lucky not to miss any ports or meet the Coronavirus.

[Adawn47]

Our last one was last Nov/Dec. Aurora 13 night Madeira and the Canaries. The weather in Madeira was beautiful but the rest of the cruise was a bit hit and miss and very windy. I've not known it to be cold in the Canaries. It came as a bit of a shock. The ship was lovely as usual and we enjoyed every minute. We never let the weather spoil anything for us. The cruise back was quite eventful with trying to outrun the gales, but the Captain got close to the shelter of the south coast and it wasn't so bad. Next one Arcadia November 6th 2020 all being well.

Avril 

 

 

[Josy1953]

27 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Our last cruise was a 15 night Hawaiian cruise on Grand Princess in November 2019.

We had 2 nights pre cruise hotel stay in San Francisco and visited Alcatraz.

When we got off the ship we had booked a day room in a hotel for 6 hours so we could spend another day in San Francisco.

We were booked on Azura TA March 20th 2020 which was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

The Grand Princess was the first grand class ship that we went on and have been on her 3 more times.  We went on her from San Francisco to Alaska, a brilliant cruise.

[Adawn47]

7 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

We were on the same cruise but unlike you it will definitely be our last cruise on Oceana.

We were definitely lucky not to miss any ports or meet the Coronavirus.

I have to admit that we loved Oceana. We did our second cruise on her in 2011. 28 nights eastern med. Absolutely loved her and we had a truly  unforgettable time. We've sailed on her 3 times altogether the last being  January 2015 for our Golden Wedding Anniversary. A lovely old lady. 

Avril 

[AndyMichelle]

12 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I have to admit that we loved Oceana. We did our second cruise on her in 2011. 28 nights eastern med. Absolutely loved her and we had a truly  unforgettable time. We've sailed on her 3 times altogether the last being  January 2015 for our Golden Wedding Anniversary. A lovely old lady. 

Avril 

We argue about Oceana.. 

Michelle loves her, I am not so keen. 

I just don't like the layout and miss a Crows Nest/Anderson's type venue, everything seems on top of each other... 

But we had a fantastic cruise on her though.. 

Andy 

[sddsddean]

We were with Pete on the Arcadia's (infamous) Northern Lights cruise. I did once describe the weather as 'iffy', but 70mph winds, snow, total overcast and 30 foot seas don't really do 'iffy' justice! Having said that, the ship handled it really well, though about 30 people got off in Tromso and flew home. Hopefully 🤞 our next is on the Iona at the end of November. Who knows, it could end up being the maiden!

 

Simon

Edited April 16, 2020 by sddsddean

[Otter18]

Our last cruise was the 2020 Arcadia world cruise that wasn't.

 

Quite eventful really, as we mostly didn't go where we should have. First leg went to plan with a trip through the Panama Canal to SF. Second leg we had 2 cancelled ports, Tonga and Samoa due to measles outbreak. Auckland to Sydney was fine.

 

Our 3,4,and 5th leg of the cruise saw us visit just one port from the original itinerary, Brisbane. Then we turned south and travelled around Australia making several ports of call, ending in Freemantle (should have been Hong Kong).

 

We then set sail for Dubai. Diverted on route to Durban. By the time we got to Durban, South Africa was in lockdown. That became a 'technical' stop for fuel and supplies. After 5 days waiting outside the port,  a doctor was lowered onto Arcadia, from a helicopter, dressed in a hazmat suit. He checked people in sick bay, some cabin isolated passengers, and three South African nationals crew, who wanted to leave the ship in Durban. We were given the 'all clear from Covid19' and were allowed to dock for fuel and supplies. A good job too, we were totally out of lettuce, and I'm sure the lobster was running low! We set sail for Cape Town but we were not allowed to stop (end of leg 4, should have been Dubai).

 

Then back to Southampton after another 'technical' stop in Tenerife. 33 consecutive sea days (not sure if that is a record). Arrived back on Sunday.

 

Well that was our last cruise. I wasn't going to write so much, but I couldn't stop myself.😀

 

Brian & Carol

[Adawn47]

3 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We argue about Oceana.. 

Michelle loves her, I am not so keen. 

I just don't like the layout and miss a Crows Nest/Anderson's type venue, everything seems on top of each other... 

But we had a fantastic cruise on her though.. 

Andy 

Michelle has such good taste.  I know Andy, I've left myself wide open for your obvious come-back.😜 We always liked to sit in Magnums. We also found her easy to navigate unlike Oriana which we thought was a little confusing.

Avril 

[Josy1953]

26 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I have to admit that we loved Oceana. We did our second cruise on her in 2011. 28 nights eastern med. Absolutely loved her and we had a truly  unforgettable time. We've sailed on her 3 times altogether the last being  January 2015 for our Golden Wedding Anniversary. A lovely old lady. 

Avril 

Our last cruise was our 3rd on Oceana and I have often said that she was my favourite ship but we had such a bad experience that I would not even go on her again if we were given a free cruise. 

 

We have a cruise booked on Azura in June and have said that it had we not paid for it before the Oceana cruise we would have cancelled and lost the deposit so we are hoping that it gets cancelled by P&O so that we can take a refund.  We also have one booked on Ventura 31st October which we will not pay the balance even if P&O are sailing by the time that the balance becomes due, we will simply lose the deposit which is not much because we booked at 5% deposit, we have no interest in taking an FCC because we think that P&O standards have fallen to a level that we find unacceptable.  We have already cancelled the P&O cruises that we had booked for next year.

[ann141]

Our last cruise was the 'Cruise to Nowhere' on March 11th of this year on Aurora.We embarked ready to see 'The Northern lights' but on the second day we were informed by the Captain that we would be returning to Southampton as Norway was stopping any cruise ships visit due to the Coronavirus.We cruised around the North Sea for a couple of days before arriving back at Southampton.We were treated very well whilst onboard ,met some lovely people and as Aurora is our favourite ship we enjoyed our short cruise and hope to see The Northern Lights next year.

[Purdey16]

Our last cruise was on Ventura last September to Norway , we booked our very first suite 2 years in advance and was really looking forward to everything and two days before the cruise p & o phoned me up and asked if we would take a down grade to a Superior deluxe cabin , half of our fair back and we would still be able to keep all our suite benefits etc and board first , eating breakfast in the white room I think it was called was a lovely experience , we met some fantastic dinner companions and all the crew were lovely , all in all what it cost us was cheaper than someone paying for a inside cabin because we booked it two years in advance and while on board Ventura with extra discount , Norway was lovely weather  with a fresh sprinkling of snow on the mountains tops . Quite honestly I don't think we would of made much use of the aft balcony anyway and we were very surprised how big our room was . 

[Jennizor]

Our last cruise was to the Caribbean on 29th February on Britannia. We had a lovely cruise, we had visited most ports on previous cruises. We didn’t do much this time as my husband has a leg problem at the moment so we spent a lot of time on board. We were on fixed dining and shared with a great couple, lots of laughs and joint activities. We went to the Limelight Club for the first time and saw Gareth Gates. A great evening and he was excellent. We had the drinks package as with quite a lot of OBC and loyalty discount was a good deal for us. At dinner on the Friday evening before we flew home on Saturday the Captain made an announcement telling the newly arrived passengers that their cruise was cancelled and they would be sailing straight to Southampton. We were all stunned but the people on the next table, who were affected, accepted it quite well. An empty plane flew out on the Saturday to take us home. We got back to the beginning of the current situation but felt extremely lucky to have had a lovely holiday. We have another cruise booked in June, going to Northern Europe and the Baltic states, we know this won’t happen now and just waiting for P & O to cancel it and give us a refund.

[showingdiva]

My last cruise was non-P&O.   I will always have a huge emotional attachment to Arcadia, but Queen Mary 2 has been a long-held dream that has now been realised on multiple occasions, and  with 1 x P&O and 2 x Cunard booked for this year, but will be re-scheduling.

 

Working for the NHS and volunteering at my local port with cruise ships,  I am confident we will overcome the adversity of this virus, and whilst a lot of things in life may not be quite the same for a time to come, or in some instances again, it's important for all our mental health to concentrate on things we've both enjoyed and will enjoy again in the future.

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by showingdiva

[Cruiserjules]

Our last cruise was the re-positioning fly cruise on Oceana in October last year.  Due to the demise of Thomas Cook, we lost our day in Malta, but had a great time, met some lovely people and enjoyed Oceana, especially Magnums.

 

We had to think long and hard whether to book it, as the cruise before in May 2109 on Ventura, shook our confidence in P&O following an accident Dave had onboard, (where he was left injured on the floor for 45 minutes - long story).  However, the Oceana cruise restored our faith and  led to us not cancelling our Iona Maiden!!

[Twogreynomads]

Our last cruise was Arcadia to Iberia in December, Lovely ship beautifully decorated for Christmas. Unfortunately the weather was poor with some of the worst sea conditions we have ever had. Nearly spilt my drink once in the Crows Nest. Great ship and crew. A happy time to remember.  More please! 

[AndyMichelle]

11 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

Michelle has such good taste.  I know Andy, I've left myself wide open for your obvious come-back.😜 We always liked to sit in Magnums. We also found her easy to navigate unlike Oriana which we thought was a little confusing.

Avril 

I wont state the obvious... 😊

The problem with Magnums is the noise from the pub upstairs or club next door, really takes away from the relaxing space it should be... 

We were on a cruise that did seem to have too much going on, I don't know if that is standard for Oceana but every bar seemed to have something going on all day, whether it live entertainment, bingo, football. It was just too much in a fairly small space. 

I think she is more suited to sunshine cruises where you can spread out more. 

Andy