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Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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blahblah
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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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😐

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by raoul »

blahblah wrote: ↑08 Jan 2020, 17:27😐
Now stop that.

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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raoul wrote: ↑09 Jan 2020, 04:20
blahblah wrote: ↑08 Jan 2020, 17:27😐
Now stop that.
have you ever thought of a career as a travel writer :-)

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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raoul wrote: ↑09 Jan 2020, 04:20
blahblah wrote: ↑08 Jan 2020, 17:27😐
Now stop that.
Did you see the Seahawks at the weekend, or were you too busy packing? 😐

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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Vid wrote: ↑12 Dec 2019, 20:38 MrsVid has booked a 7 nighter with P&O next Easter, Southampton - Portugal/ west side of Spain and back again, us and the g/daughter (she'll be 7 by then), should be thrilling :roll:

Also looking at P&O (if this one is any good) for a transatlantic Spring 2021 (no idea where the money is coming from, I haven't got any!!!!).
Due to Covid the above got cancelled, two more also booked and cancelled in the last 18 months.

As we'd both booked time off for this week just ending (the plan being a 7 nighter Southampton - Norway - Southampton with Jessica) MrsVid looked at the up and down the coast cruises covering this week. We booked a 4 nighter with P&O (Sun - Thurs just gone) on the Britannia, no children allowed, all had to prove that they'd had both jabs wit ha further test prior to boarding. MrsVid's cousin joined us again with a (very annoying) friend accompanying her. It was a linked booking, so it made little sense to me that our rooms were one different decks at different ends of the ship with different boarding times, same deck or same end would have worked better and it's not as if all rooms were in use due to restrictions on numbers.

We'd booked port parking as it was cheaper than taxi or train.

We had plenty of notice weeks in advance that we'd need passports (why? - not leaving the UK), boarding passes printed out and the covid pass app on our mobiles (no idea how anyone without a smart phone is supposed to do anything these days!) we were sorted, cousin was sorted, annoying friend - pita! We were instructed by the paperwork to go to Dock Gate 10, the route I'd told MrsVid to take into Southampton to avoid traffic took us closer to Dock Gate 20, but she wouldn't follow my suggestion. Extra 15 mins or so stuck in traffic going into West Quay, to get to DG10 to be instructed to 'follow the car in front' to the covid testing area. The one in front was following the one in front, those behind also following this 'simple' instruction, so when met by a dead end 20 or so cars are now doing 3 point turns to go back a couple of turns to find the correct place to go. If we'd come off at DG20 we'd have seen it easily (main problem here is lack of signage by the port authorities) and been there at least 30 mins earlier.

So finally joining the queues, stewards checking you have your passports and boarding pass, then into the next queue before the test area for another to check your covid pass, it was at this point that annoying friend is the only one that can't find, then can't log into the app on her phone once found. Told to park to the side until she's sorted it out, another 15-20 minutes, eventually sorted, but for some unexplicable reason she'd set it to her landline rather than mobile :roll: further complicating matters. Tests done and join another long queue getting out of DG10 to drive along West Quay to DG4. Join another queue for dropping the car (by which time my negative result had arrived by text), all out of the car, bags on a trolley and into another queue in departures. MrsVid and cousin's negative texts arrived whilst in the queue.

More queues someone asking the usual 'have you had' questions, to another area where if you've had a negative text you can go through to boarding, if not then you wait until the staff there have received the result. Annoying's had come through, the boarding check was basically someone taking a photograph of your passport. Then onto another waiting area before going through the security area and finally to the ship. It took around 3 and a half hours from arriving at DG10 to finally get on the ship.

Off to find the room, we were forward on deck 12, an inside cabin, roomy enough, well laid out, bed, couple of sets of drawers, table, tv (with only 4 channels???), UK plug sockets, open wardrobe area (better than having doors to open and get in the way) and toilet area with shower cubicle. Being inside it was pitch black with all the lights off, excellent for not knowing what time it was, not so great for whoever got up first trying to find clothes and other stufff to exit the room without disturbing the other.

Up to deck 16, past the 2 tiny 'paddling pools' (the area being set up for deck chairs, loads of them), through the buffet area to the Sunset Bar at the stern. Partially covered, there was a ceiling but open sides, the port side was the smoking side with one table being reasonably sheltered from the wind, the rest weren't. We visited here many times a day, the only drinks we had elsewhere were in main dining. Frequently I had to go find someone to take a drinks order as it was table service only, the area was understaffed for the most part.

The buffet food was good, but small plates and portions, options were also limited and generally I would be going for the least worst option rather than something I liked the idea of eating, other than breakfast of course, Full English thank you, small plate? stack it up! Main dining again was okay, nothing inspiring, but cooked properly, turned up quickly and hot. No great range of options, but I was happy eating steak on the three occasions we used it :D

No idea how P&O usually do it, but for main dining it was 'freedom dining' which you had to book by using the ships app, booking well ahead for 6pm works (day before), you rock up around 6pm and get shown to a table, other than that your 'freedom' is to wait in a queue. Open the app, select which of the 2 restaurants you want to eat at and join a queue, they send a message 15 mins before and you have that time to get from wherever you are on the ship to the restaurant to get your table. Saw plenty trying to just turn up to get turned away with an hour or more to wait if they joined the queue there and then, some joined the queue and I guess others went to the buffet deck. The first (and only) evening we tried eating later was held up by 'someone' not being ready to agree to join the queue, don't care too much for eating after 9pm when I'd had an early lunch!

Didn't really explore the boat, only used the one bar, we spent around Β£400 on alcohol (MrsVid drank her share, possibly a bit more!) and we probably drank less than we would at home without work or childcare to consider, but it costs a lot less from Asda! :-)

It was a much needed break and enough to tell us that MrsVid's plan of a transatlantic with them just wouldn't work for us, you get what you pay for, if you pay less, you get less! But we still might do it as their prices are well under RC's and include the flights, but we do see to be steering towards doing the Baltics again next year.

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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Did you stop off anywhere (to see the delights of Hull. or maybe Grimsby?), or was it just on board all the time?

I've been on a P&O ferry from Hull to Rotterdam / Hoek van Holland a couple of times on cycling trips to Belgium and the Netherlands. The entertainment was fantastic, although very 1970's clubland style - like Phoenix Nights on water :-) Hopefully their cruise ships are a bit more upmarket.

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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unc.si. wrote: ↑14 Aug 2021, 23:30 Did you stop off anywhere (to see the delights of Hull. or maybe Grimsby?), or was it just on board all the time?

I've been on a P&O ferry from Hull to Rotterdam / Hoek van Holland a couple of times on cycling trips to Belgium and the Netherlands. The entertainment was fantastic, although very 1970's clubland style - like Phoenix Nights on water :-) Hopefully their cruise ships are a bit more upmarket.
Sounds like part of The Triangle with Kate 😍😍😍

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by unc.si. »

blahblah wrote: ↑15 Aug 2021, 00:36
unc.si. wrote: ↑14 Aug 2021, 23:30 Did you stop off anywhere (to see the delights of Hull. or maybe Grimsby?), or was it just on board all the time?

I've been on a P&O ferry from Hull to Rotterdam / Hoek van Holland a couple of times on cycling trips to Belgium and the Netherlands. The entertainment was fantastic, although very 1970's clubland style - like Phoenix Nights on water :-) Hopefully their cruise ships are a bit more upmarket.
Sounds like part of The Triangle with Kate 😍😍😍
:D
It was very accurate to be honest :-)

best thing about the trip was being let off the ferry on our bikes and the port workers telling us how much headstart they were going to give us before they let the trucks loose :-)

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

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unc.si. wrote: ↑15 Aug 2021, 01:17
blahblah wrote: ↑15 Aug 2021, 00:36
unc.si. wrote: ↑14 Aug 2021, 23:30 Did you stop off anywhere (to see the delights of Hull. or maybe Grimsby?), or was it just on board all the time?

I've been on a P&O ferry from Hull to Rotterdam / Hoek van Holland a couple of times on cycling trips to Belgium and the Netherlands. The entertainment was fantastic, although very 1970's clubland style - like Phoenix Nights on water :-) Hopefully their cruise ships are a bit more upmarket.
Sounds like part of The Triangle with Kate 😍😍😍
:D
It was very accurate to be honest :-)

best thing about the trip was being let off the ferry on our bikes and the port workers telling us how much headstart they were going to give us before they let the trucks loose :-)
You missed the swimming pool scene then 🀦

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Re: Cruise Holidays (yes, it's long!)

Post by Vid »

unc.si. wrote: ↑14 Aug 2021, 23:30 Did you stop off anywhere (to see the delights of Hull. or maybe Grimsby?), or was it just on board all the time?

I've been on a P&O ferry from Hull to Rotterdam / Hoek van Holland a couple of times on cycling trips to Belgium and the Netherlands. The entertainment was fantastic, although very 1970's clubland style - like Phoenix Nights on water :-) Hopefully their cruise ships are a bit more upmarket.
No stops, SW along the coast, around the Scillies, NE along the coast, once around Lundy and back again. Didn't look at any shows, not even MrsVid!

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