On Iona now 28th Sept

[Waju]

45 minutes ago, picsa said:

Apparently passports are required today in Barcelona, but were not in Vigo, Malaga, or Alicante. But this is probably just because of Barcelona wanting to be different. 

Thanks Picsa, I’m interested in how it will work for the 90 days in 180 rule for visiting Europe as we like to visit Spain for a few months at a time.  It seems as though we would have had 3 ‘free ‘  days on this particular cruise 😊

[picsa]

10 minutes ago, Waju said:

Thanks Picsa, I’m interested in how it will work for the 90 days in 180 rule for visiting Europe as we like to visit Spain for a few months at a time.  It seems as though we would have had 3 ‘free ‘  days on this particular cruise 😊

Not necessarily. 
 

P&O have your passport details and will have passed them to the immigration control at each port they are calling, so they will know you have ‘been there’. 
 

It is just that Barcelona are being different by requiring passengers to carry their passport when leaving the ship. 

[indiana123]

Oriana every time or me too.

[the wandering two]

On this sailing too & loving the multiple dining /entertainment options.  Agree about 710 club, managed to get in twice so far. Counted seven different music options one night, so plenty in our view, although a lot overlap. 
Enjoying most of the food, Sindhu such a disappointment under seasoned & no flavour, curries in the buffet better. 
Most adhering to COVID protocols & feel v safe onboard & ashore, most Spanish mask wearing on the street & always indoors. 

[Billish]

1 hour ago, picsa said:

Not necessarily. 
 

P&O have your passport details and will have passed them to the immigration control at each port they are calling, so they will know you have ‘been there’. 
 

It is just that Barcelona are being different by requiring passengers to carry their passport when leaving the ship. 

Agreed, and even if you don't get off the ship, as far as the authorities are concerned, your visit counts against your 90 day allowance, as do sea days when travelling between ports

[Adawn47]

3 hours ago, picsa said:

I suppose some have a nostalgia for old, worn out and broken things, but have never understood it. 

Ahh, nostalgia😊 

I still love my husband too😉

Avril

Edited October 2, 2021 by Adawn47

[daiB]

On 10/1/2021 at 12:04 PM, Britboys said:

Struggling to understand why it took 40 minutes to get to the City centre. The docks are pretty much in the city centre at Malaga...🤔

Yes i can scooter to the old town in about 20 minutes or less and the shuttle bus only takes 5/7 minutes

[Waju]

2 hours ago, Billish said:

Agreed, and even if you don't get off the ship, as far as the authorities are concerned, your visit counts against your 90 day allowance, as do sea days when travelling between ports

You’re probably right, but I can’t see how the authorities know without your passport being physically scanned.  To have it scanned in Southampton and then P and O computers being linked to the border force computers is possible I suppose.

[Billish]

33 minutes ago, Waju said:

You’re probably right, but I can’t see how the authorities know without your passport being physically scanned.  To have it scanned in Southampton and then P and O computers being linked to the border force computers is possible I suppose.

P&O will have to pre-submit the passenger manifest, which will include passport numbers to the Border Control authorities in each port, in the same way that airlines submit API data. Absolutely no need for the passports to be physically scanned when all the information can be stored and shared electronically.  

[terrierjohn]

39 minutes ago, Waju said:

You’re probably right, but I can’t see how the authorities know without your passport being physically scanned.  To have it scanned in Southampton and then P and O computers being linked to the border force computers is possible I suppose.

I dread to to think what sort of a mess P&Os IT dept would make if it was linked into any other system, total meltdown springs to mind.

[Technoman2]

In Barcelona today. Really to far to walk out of port to centre I would estimate 40 mins. Had to take passports and proof of vaccination off ship. £4pp charge each way for bus or free if in select but a hell of a walk to sagrada familiar from bus drop off point. Taxi cost 16 euro back from sagrada families to ship. Money well spent

[picsa]

Yes it was lovely and peaceful on board this morning when the vast majority of passengers had disappeared off on the buses. The gym was empty, nobody in the restaurants, etc. Although there were some towels down by the pool at 9am that hadn’t been touched by lunchtime…

 

For me Barcelona is a nighttime city and although it is a 20:30 sailing that is still far too early to enjoy it at its best. 

[Britboys]

6 hours ago, picsa said:

I suppose some have a nostalgia for old, worn out and broken things, but have never understood it. 

I prefer classic, laid back and compact as opposed to modern, frenetic and vast. I never found Oriana worn out and broken. As I said, I do understand why some prefer a large, new ship. Just not for me.

[picsa]

54 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I never found Oriana worn out and broken.

You were lucky then not to have experienced the constantly running dehumidifiers in reception to deal with the soggy side carpets from the leaking feature wall, the toilets where most of the urinals had black plastic bin liners taped over them.

[Britboys]

2 minutes ago, picsa said:

You were lucky then not to have experienced the constantly running dehumidifiers in reception to deal with the soggy side carpets from the leaking feature wall, the toilets where most of the urinals had black plastic bin liners taped over them.

I only ever experienced one significant issue on Oriana, when I couldn't get any cold water in my cabin, meaning the shower was boiling hot. After two days without a fix they moved me to another cabin. Ironically the cabin with the problem was newly constructed in the previous children's area when she became adult-only.

I've seen the odd corridor leak requiring a bucket on a number of ships of different ages.

[Technoman2]

The ship was filled with lng today and the starboard side promenade deck was closed from 10am to 4.30 pm. No smoking in any area of the ship while this was happening. 

[picsa]

27 minutes ago, Technoman2 said:

The ship was filled with lng today and the starboard side promenade deck was closed from 10am to 4.30 pm. No smoking in any area of the ship while this was happening. 

Smoking was only prohibited on the starboard balconies, where it is prohibited anyway, and the starboard side of deck 8 which was roped off. 

[bbtablet]

9 hours ago, picsa said:

I suppose some have a nostalgia for old, worn out and broken things, but have never understood it. 

Sounds like my wife's description of me!

[bbtablet]

Is the Oriana (our first cruise) still floating about somewhere or has it gone to the breakers in the sky?

[Britboys]

3 minutes ago, bbtablet said:

Is the Oriana (our first cruise) still floating about somewhere or has it gone to the breakers in the sky?

She was sold to a Chinese company and renamed Pianoland. She is still sailing in China.

[showingdiva]

2 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

The ship was filled with lng today and the starboard side promenade deck was closed from 10am to 4.30 pm. No smoking in any area of the ship while this was happening. 

 

How did this affect those in the strange balcony cabins on Deck 8 on the starboard side?

[AchileLauro]

We stopped sailing on Oriana when they made her adult only so can't comment on her condition in the later days of her P&O service but she was a beautiful elegant ship in her earlier days and our favourite.

 

When P&O made her adult only we transferred our allegiance to her sister Aurora but then unfortunately without notice P&O made her adult only cancelling our booked family holiday they lost our custom.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, AchileLauro said:

We stopped sailing on Oriana when they made her adult only so can't comment on her condition in the later days of her P&O service but she was a beautiful elegant ship in her earlier days and our favourite.

 

When P&O made her adult only we transferred our allegiance to her sister Aurora but then unfortunately without notice P&O made her adult only cancelling our booked family holiday they lost our custom.

I can understand that - P&O don't cover themselves in glory when they make any sort of changes to the fleet.

Oriana remained beautiful and elegant to the end of her days with P&O. Yes, there were occasional problems with leaking pipes etc but her cabins and public rooms were well cared for. She was timeless.

[daiB]

6 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

In Barcelona today. Really to far to walk out of port to centre I would estimate 40 mins. Had to take passports and proof of vaccination off ship. £4pp charge each way for bus or free if in select but a hell of a walk to sagrada familiar from bus drop off point. Taxi cost 16 euro back from sagrada families to ship. Money well spent

Less than 20 on my mobility scooter, I have done it 3/4 times

[Issyalex]

6 hours ago, Technoman2 said:

In Barcelona today. Really to far to walk out of port to centre I would estimate 40 mins. Had to take passports and proof of vaccination off ship. £4pp charge each way for bus or free if in select but a hell of a walk to sagrada familiar from bus drop off point. Taxi cost 16 euro back from sagrada families to ship. Money well spent

You could have got the port bus. Cheaper than P&O’s transfer and drops/collects you at the same place as ships transfer buses.